The Most Awesome Untold Fairy Tale Yet
by Captain Universe
Summary: If there was one thing Gilbert and the princess could agree upon, it was the fact that Luddy was an idiot. (Shrek A.U. starring Gilbert as Shrek, Elizaveta as Princess Fiona, Antonio as Donkey and Ludwig as himself.)
1. Chapter 1

Luddy didn't know it and Gilbert was never going to tell him, but he didn't _exactly_ sleep till noon every day. He maybe sort of woke up just before dawn. Not for very long. Just… long enough. To see if Luddy was still there. Not that he was worried or anything. He was too awesome to get worried. He was too awesome to worry that maybe one day he would wake up and Luddy wouldn't be there anymore.

(How long had he been doing this? What day was it? Keh. Luddy would know. Gilbert wasn't going to ask him. It didn't matter anyway. Luddy was still there, hogging the bed like always. He was such a good big brother, letting Luddy share his bed.)

"Bruder! Wake up! Your breakfast will get cold!"

Grumbling, Gilbert dragged himself out of bed and into the only other room in the cabin. Luddy had his breakfast of eggs and venison all set out for him. Kesesese, what a good little servant. He plopped himself down in a chair.

"Sit up straight, Bruder."

Gilbert ignored him.

While Gilbert ate breakfast, he watched Luddy clean the floors with his deck brush. Gilbert hated that deck brush. Luddy wouldn't let him throw it out. There was a bandage wrapped around the middle from where Gilbert had snapped it in half and Luddy had repaired it.

"I don't understand you, Bruder," Luddy had said, dripping tallow onto the broken ends. "Why would you want to throw away a perfectly good deck brush?"

"Keh! His royal awesomeness doesn't have to explain anything to you!" Gilbert hadn't been angry. Why would he be angry? His little brother totally wasn't the boss of him. Obviously.

"Bruder?" Luddy asked. Gilbert snapped out of it.

"_What?_" he demanded.

"It is day 1065."

"So?"

"So that means… it one month it will have been three years."

"So?" Gilbert asked, drinking his milk in the way that annoyed Luddy(straight out of the bottle).

"So- don't do that Bruder, it is not polite- if it will have been three years since the accident… why can't I remember anything?"

"How should I know?"

"Well since you were there… I thought maybe you would have some idea?"

"I already told you; I don't know. Now leave me alone. I don't care about your stupid problems!"

His harsh words didn't even make Luddy flinch. He simply frowned. "Don't yell in the house." When Gilbert was the only human face you'd seen in three years, you developed a tough skin.

"By the way, Bruder," Luddy said, spooning more scrambled eggs onto Gilbert's plate(How awesome was that? His little brother was totally his own personal servant.). "We need more meat. You will have to go out and get some."

"Kesese, of course my awesome self can go out and get meat for his little bruder!" Gilbert sprang up and started putting on his boots.

Luddy watched him suspiciously. "…You won't try to wrestle a bear again, will you?"

"Why shouldn't I? We were eating that bear for a month!"

"You were also injured for a month," Luddy reminded him.

"Keh! It was just a scratch."

"It was not and you know it."

Just for that, Gilbert decided, he was going to go hunt some bears. He need a challenge once in a while anyway. And besides. His little brother wasn't the boss of him.

He had to cross the swamp to get to bear territory. If you didn't know the swamp, it was hell to cross. It had been hell that first day, tripping with exhaustion, Luddy's body on his back, but if there was one thing Gilbert was good at, it was putting himself in ridiculously dangerous situations and coming out alive.

The woods were kinda quiet. Gilbert sighed because that meant it was probably going to be a slow day and _that_ meant he was going to need patience so it kinda sucked that he didn't have any.

The edge of the woods was an hour walk even if you knew the way but it didn't look like any bears were gonna show and Gilbert had time. He hadn't been to the cliffs in a while anyway.

Stepping out of the tree line an hour later, Gilbert plopped himself down on a rock and looked out over the edge of the cliffs in satisfaction. Looking down at the fields below always made him feel like he was the king of the world.

(Which he could totally be if he wanted to, by the way. He just didn't want to.)

The view was the same as it always was which was completely awesome thank you very much. Gilbert doesn't really go in for any poetic descriptions or crap like that but those hills in the distance were _made_ for horses to run down. Looking out over it, he had to sigh a little. He knew there was a good reason he and Luddy never left the swamp but sometimes he had a really hard time remembering what that was.

But hey. Really, they were better off alone. They didn't need anyone el-

"You there! Seize him!"

Soldiers. He'd know a soldier's voice anywhere.

A young man about his own age came scrambling up the mountain trail. Seeing Gilbert, he stopped short for a moment. As the soldiers came up behind him though, he bolted behind Gilbert and grabbed his shoulder. Something sharp and cold scraped Gilbert's throat.

"Sorry amigo," the man whispered. "But I don't have much choice, comprendo?"

"Citizen!" One of the soldiers shouted. "Release that man!"

"Sorry, but I don't think I can do that." The young man's voice was absurdly cheerful. "I'm going to back up now. And you're going to let me. One wrong move-"

That was as far as he got because Gilbert slammed his heel down onto the other man's foot, forced the knife hand away from his throat, grabbed the other man's arm and twisted it behind his back. He grunted in pain. Gilbert grinned. The soldiers were staring. The one in charge cleared his throat.

"Well done citizen! Please hand over your prisoner."

Gilbert was beginning to remember why he hated soldiers. He pushed the young man roughly and walked him forward to where the soldiers stood at the head of the mountain pass. "Well? Aren't you gonna take him?"

"Yes. Of course. You two!" the commander snapped. "Take this man!" The two he'd indicated awkwardly tried to pick their way around him on the narrow pass.

"Hey. Soldier." The commander looked back to where Gilbert had been but suddenly he was gone.

"Up here, moron!" As they looked up to the ledge above them, Gilbert slowly let the rock fall, laughing like a maniac as they scattered, scrambling down the mountainside. He stood for a moment, watching them curse and run before he started walking away.

"Wait amigo!" the young man called after him.

"I'm not your amigo. Go away."

"My name is Antonio. Nice to meet you."

"I said go away!"

"I am sorry but you must forgive if I continue to follow you."

Gilbert scowled and pushed his way through the underbrush. He could lose this idiot in the swamp.

Or not. There was nothing Gilbert hated more than a righteous little jerk face who didn't know when to quit.

"Stop following me!" he snapped. "Why are you even here?"

"The soldiers, they moved onto my land." Gilbert could hear the grin in his voice. "They caused trouble that I didn't like so I caused a little trouble they didn't like."

"Great. Whatever. You caused trouble. Go home."

"I don't have a home anymore amigo."

"Do you think I care? Stop following me!"

"You saved my life amigo. I cannot walk away from that."

Gilbert spun around. "GO. AWAY."

"I won't do that."

Gilbert scowled and stalked away. Antonio followed him. Apparently it was easier to navigate the swamp when you were following someone who knew what they were doing. Gilbert swore under his breath and started formulating a plan that somehow ended with Antonio stuck in quicksand.

"Hey amigo."

"I'm not your amigo!"

"I am guessing that you live back here. Is that true?"

"Yeah, so?"

"How many other people live back here?"

"No one! What are you talking about?"

"Then, whose fire is that?"

"Wha-" Gilbert stopped and looked to where Antonio was pointing. Thick gray smoke was rising into the sky. Gilbert frowned. That was completely the wrong direction for their cabin to be and besides, even if Luddy did build a fire he knew how to make thin smoke that drew no attention. So what-

He changed course abruptly, crashing though the undergrowth. Forest fire? No, that couldn't be right. It had been raining all last week. So there had to be some other explanation. A natural explanation. It wasn't like anyone else would be living all the way back here, right?

Gilbert reached the tree line and stopped short. Antonio almost ran into him but he barely noticed. He was too busy swearing.

The beginnings of a military camp filled the clearing and stretched off into the woods. Everywhere he looked, soldiers where milling about, bringing in supplies, setting things up, following orders. They were making camp. They were _moving in._

No. They just _thought_ they were moving in. Well, they weren't. Not if Gilbert had anything to say about it.

"Hey! You!" he snapped, storming up to the nearest officer. "This swamp's taken! Go find your own!"

The officer looked at him, completely unimpressed. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah, you can help me. By getting your stupid soldiers and _getting out of here_."

"Citizen, what is your name?"

"None of your business."

"Citizen, if your only objective to is cause trouble, I suggest you cause it elsewhere."

Gilbert opened his mouth to reply but Antonio beat him to it.

"Hey. I don't wish to interrupt, but I think that you are Lord Edelstein's soldiers, si?"

The officer looked at him coldly. "That's right. We are."

"Then you are here by his orders."

"Yes."

"You see amigo?" Antonio whispered to him. "They are here by order of the man himself. There is nothing we can do. They obey him only."

Gilbert got a strange look on his face as Antonio said that. "So, let me get this straight," he said, turning back to the soldier slowly. "If you got an order from this 'Lord Edelstein' telling you to leave, you'd _leave?"_

"Yes."

A slow grin split Gilbert's face. "Then I guess you'd better start packing!" he sang, turning on his heel and walking away. Antonio was following him, but this time, Gilbert couldn't be bothered to care.

He was going on a quest.


	2. Chapter 2

"Bruder?" Luddy asked uncertainly as Gilbert came in, slamming open the front door.

"This pathetic loser is Antonio." He moved around the cabin as he spoke, grabbing things from cupboards and stuffing them into a rucksack. Grabbing his sword from off the table, he tied it to his belt. "Ignore him."

"Are you hungry, Mr. Antonio?"

"Hey!" Gilbert snapped. "What did I just say?"

"You must be polite to guests, Bruder."

"He's not a guest."

"I don't care." Luddy sounded a lot like Gilbert as he said that. "He is a human being." He filled a cup with water and handed it to Antonio.

"Gracias, Niño."

"Luddy, get your stuff. We're leaving."

"Where are we going?"

"To see some loser called Lord Edelstein and get him to move his stupid soldiers off our land."

Luddy seemed to accept this answer because he ran off to pack without asking any more questions. Antonio watched him go. Gilbert caught him staring.

"What are _you_ looking at?" he snarled.

"You have a cute brother, amigo."

"Who asked you?"

Luddy returned presently, his bag expertly packed, carrying a full canteen and his deck brush. Gilbert scowled at it.

"Why are you taking that stupid thing?"

"Because it will be useful. You don't let me carry a sword, remember?"

"Yeah I don't!" Gilbert grabbed his own canteen.

"Did you bring utensils?" Luddy asked him.

"No."

"Did you bring food?"

"No."

"Did you bring underwear?"

"Yes."

"Gilbert…"

"Fine! I'll get my stupid underwear. Are you happy?"

"Yes."

When Gilbert came back, having stuffed a few pairs of underwear into his bag, he saw that Luddy had a pot and pan hanging from his pack. "I'm ready Bruder."

"Then try to keep up!" Gilbert kicked the door open and ran out, laughing with glee. Antonio and Luddy follow him, Luddy locking the door carefully behind them.

"You said he uses his broom to fight?" Antonio asked, glancing back at his little brother.

"Yeah. That is because he is so awesome. I taught him everything he knows." Gilbert had once seen him hold off a pack of wild dogs with that stupid deck brush of his.

And speaking of Luddy…

"Are there really soldiers on our land?" he asked, catching up with his brother.

"Yeah. There are."

"I don't understand. Why would soldiers camp on our land?"

"Do I look like I know?"

"Where are they?" Luddy looked around as if he actually expected to see them popping out behind the trees.

"I dunno. Somewhere over there." Gilbert waved towards where the smoke was rising above the trees.

"Over there…? But, Bruder, we almost never use that section of the woods… Can't we share it with them? If they need it? They are soldiers after all."

"No! We can _not_ share with them! Now shut up and keep walking!"

"Why not?"

"What?"

"Why can't we share with them?"

"Because I said so!"

Luddy looked up at him. Gilbert glared back and for whatever reason, Luddy backed down. Gilbert didn't know why (it wasn't like Luddy had ever been scared of him) and he didn't care. Just so long as he didn't have to deal with any more questions.

If those soldiers actually got anywhere near his brother… Gilbert scowled and started walking faster. They needed to get as far as they could before dark.

Antonio caught up with him. "Say… Amigo?"

"What?"

"Lord Edelstein's castle… I am thinking you do not know how to get there."

"Why would you say that?"

"Because you are going the wrong way."

Gilbert swore and stopped short, looking around him. Luddy caught up.

"What's wrong, Bruder?"

"Well?" Gilbert demanded to Antonio, ignoring Luddy. "Which way is it?"

Antonio smiled at his question. He smiled too much. "Follow me, amigo."

"No. I'm not going to follow you. Tell me where it is."

"Why won't you follow?"

"Because you're not coming with us!"

"But I want to come with you."

"That is too bad! You're not coming!"

"Why would you want to come, Mr. Antonio?" Luddy asked.

Antonio smiled. "Lord Edelstein took something from me, Niño. And I see how your brother is going to go to Lord Edelstein and demand what he wants and I think 'Why don't I try that? I have nothing to lose anymore.'"

At some point as he was speaking, Gilbert had turned and started walking away. He didn't even care if he was going in the right direction or not. He just needed to get away from Antonio and his sob story.

"What did he take?"

"Someone very important to me."

There was a pause. "I am sorry for that," Luddy said, so quietly that Gilbert could barely hear it.

"Do not concern yourself, Niño."

"Hey. Loser," Gilbert said. His voice sounded a little rough. "You said you knew the way."

"Si."

"Then maybe you should get up here and lead."

Antonio laughed. "You are right amigo," he said, moving to overtake Gilbert. "Come with me."

Antonio, as it turned out, was the type of guy who liked to sing. Whenever. Where ever. For no reason. Just 'cause he was happy or something stupid like that. He sang as he walked, leading them through the open fields that were out beyond the village. Luddy had been quiet for most of this time, looking around him contemplatively. This was his first memory of ever being beyond the woods. Gilbert was warily keeping an eye on him.

"Hey! Niño!" Antonio called back to his little brother. "Do you sing?"

Luddy walked a little faster to catch up. "Yes, a little bit."

"Would you like to sing with me?"

"What are you singing?"

"Here, I will teach you the words."

Luddy had a good voice. Even if it was still high enough to be soprano, it was strong and clear. He was also a quick learner and even though Antonio's language wasn't his native tongue, he managed to pick up the song fairly quickly. His soprano voice didn't sound half bad next to Antonio's tenor, but Gilbert wasn't going to give either of them the satisfaction of admitting that he enjoyed listening to it.

_Mambrú se fue a la guerra_

_¡qué dolor, qué dolor, qué pena!_

_Mambrú se fue a la guerra_

_No sé cuando vendrá_

_Do re mi, do re fa_

_No sé cuando vendrá…_

(Gilbert was good at singing too when he tried seriously, which was almost never.)

"I like that," Luddy said when they had finished. "What does it mean?"

"It is a song about a man who goes off to war and a lady who waits in her tower for him to return."

Luddy processed this with a serious face. "And does he return?"

"Not exactly, Niño. He dies."

Luddy frowned. "Is it a war song, then?"

Antonio laughed. "No, Niño. It is a children's song."

There was a pause. "I bet you were a messed up child," Gilbert muttered, loud enough for the other two to hear. Antonio just laughed.

"I think my mother thought so too."

The walk to the castle took only two days but it felt longer. It felt this way for a number of reasons but Gilbert had decided at the very beginning to blame all his discontent on Antonio. So, with one thing or another, he was considerably relieved when they mounted yet another hill and suddenly a castle was looming in the distance.

"That is it," Antonio said, stopping for a moment to admire the view. "That is Lord Edelstein's castle."

"Great. We don't need you anymore." Gilbert stormed passed him, down the hill.

"Nevertheless I am coming," Antonio said easily, loping after him.

Luddy always said that he fought with people too much. That wasn't completely true. He only fought with people who were prats or people who were weak or mama's boys or excessively clean. Judging by the castle town of Edelweiss, Lord Edelstein was all of these things, which meant that the minute that Gilbert met him, he was going to want to punch him in the face.

"This is nice," Luddy said, looking at the town around them. "I like it here."

"You would."

"It is very quiet, si? I wonder where everyone is."

"Let's find out." They'd come two days to see this loser and Gilbert was not going to wait for him any longer. He strode off down the main road.

"What about over there, Bruder?" Luddy asked, pointing. Several carriages were lined up and down either side of the street. "That looks like something."

Wordlessly, Gilbert started towards them. They were all parked in front of some gate of some kind. There was a greeter standing in front, officially the only other soul in sight.

"Hurry up boys!" he said smiling. "You're going to be late!"

"Late for what?" Gilbert muttered. Luddy shrugged and sped up. The words "you're late" seemed to have some kind of magic effect on him even if he had no idea what he was going to be late _for. _Gilbert and Antonio followed him through the gates. Gilbert didn't even get a chance to look around because Antonio grabbed his arm and pointed.

"There he is amigo. That is Lord Edelstein."

The good ruler himself had just risen to his feet and was yelling at them. "Who are you? What are you doing? Do you have an appointment? You are interrupting." It was a pity Lord Edelstein was seated so high up because Gilbert really did want to punch him in the face. Really badly. His fingers were twitching, he wanted to punch him so bad.

"You can't appear before the king without an appointment. Knights! Seize them!"

That was when Gilbert actually noticed where they were standing. In a big open space, surrounded by stands. Arena. Some kind of prissy knight tournament. Keh! Gilbert knew more about fighting than these little girls ever would. So, as the knights started to close in on them, he unsheathed his sword and twirled it once or twice, grinning like a maniac. Lord Edelstein didn't know it, but a fight against impossible odds was the best welcome present Gilbert Beilschmidt could've gotten.

This was going to be _awesome._

They were closing in on him now. Someone swung. Gilbert blocked. Pushed him back. Ducked and the two knights on either side of him swung each other. Laughing like a maniac, he rolled out of the way. Took out someone's knees. On your feet Gilbert! This is awesome. This is awesome!

Oh hey. Kegs of beer. Table with pints. Drink? Sure, why not. Disarm a guy, push him back into the knights behind him to slow them down. Using his advantage, he jumped on the table. Grabbed a pint. Chugged the pint. (Disgusting stuff. Is this what passes for beer around here?) Took a moment to look for Luddy and saw him ram the handle of his deck brush under some guy's chin. The guy's sword went flying. Luddy grabbed it and threw it to Antonio who only had his dagger.

Gilbert heard him call "Gracias Niño!" before they converged on him again.

Jump off the table with another wild laugh. Leap over the kegs of beer nearby. This was awesome.

Gilbert upended the kegs and rolled them at the advancing knights, tripping them up. Keh! One of the barrels burst and beer sloshed everywhere, soaking the ground.

"What are you doing, Bruder? You are wasting beer!" Luddy called from where two knights were chasing him towards the horse ring. Gilbert's grin stretched wider because Luddy rarely got sassy like that. Speaking of Luddy, it looked like his royal awesomeness was going to have to help his little brother out. Gilbert was running towards the ring before the kegs had even stopped rolling.

Antonio reached the ring before he did. Luddy had ducked behind the horses and they were rearing up. Flipping his dagger carelessly, Antonio cut the horses loose and drove them from the ring. Gilbert dove the side as they raced by, scrambled to his feet and ran.

"Hold tight, Niño!" Antonio called. He disappeared over the far edge of the ring just as Gilbert threw himself over the first one. He sprinted all the way across and threw himself over the other wall.

He landed behind the two knights and, spinning his sword to face outwards, knocked their heads together. They went reeling. He pushed them both to the ground. Antonio stepped up and put a foot on one man's chest, holding his sword to his throat. Gilbert did the same with the other and was just about to stab him when Luddy shouted, "Bruder!"

He stopped. The arena was dead quiet.

Then.

Applause roared down on them as every person in the stands leapt to their feet. Gilbert looked around him in wonder. He'd beaten guys before (a whole company once, on a day that he didn't like to talk about, 1060-some days ago) but no one _had ever _applauded him for it.

…Why not?

He laughed from sheer exhilaration, waving his sword at the crowd. "Yeah! What now, Lord Edelstein!"

The prat in question didn't look happy. "I will have you executed, do you hear me? Executed!"

"Wait!" Luddy pushed himself out from behind Gilbert and Antonio. "We just want to talk with you!"

"Well, why didn't you say so?"

"You didn't give us a chance!" Gilbert grinned because he hadn't given them a chance either and the entire arena knew it. Luddy was so smart.

"Well? What do you want?"

"You have soldiers stationed to the south of here who are trespassing on our land. We have come to ask that you move them."

There was more silence. Lord Edelstein appeared to think it over.

"Very well, I will make you a deal. You will go on a quest for me and I will remove my soldiers from your land. Okay? Okay. Tournament dismissed!"

Five minutes later, they were in Lord Edelstein's private hall, arguing out the details of their agreement. Lord Edelstein's scribe was drawing up the official document.

"Okay," the man said, reading over the sheet of paper. "Upon completion of the quest outlined in this document, His Excellency, Lord Edelstein will order his soldiers to be removed from your land. It is understood that completion of this quest will only be official once the princess arrives alive in Lord Edelstein's custody. Is this acceptable?"

"Ah, one moment, amigo," Antonio spoke up. Gilbert and Lord Edelstein turned to glare at him. "That is only a reward for these two men. That is not what I am after."

"Very well. What is it you want?" Lord Edelstein's voice was cold.

"Your men, they are also billeted in my village. I am not objecting to that," he added hastily as Lord Edelstein opened his mouth to speak. "What I _am_ objecting to…" He drew a breath. "I had myself a niño… About the age of this one here," he said, motioning to Luddy. "Your soldiers… They took him from me. To be used a servant in the household of one of their officers -and I am not asking that you find him for me! But _I_ am going to find him, and… I would like a letter from you that says, when I find him… No one may stop me from taking him back. And that no one may take him from me again. Without his permission," he finished softly.

Gilbert was vaguely aware that he was staring. Whatever he'd expected Antonio to ask for, it hadn't been that. Something in Lord Edelstein's face softened and he nodded.

"Very well. I will write you this letter myself." He drew a piece of paper towards him. Taking up a pen, he paused for a moment. "What is your boy's name?"

"…Lovino Vargas." Antonio smiled a little as he said it. "His name is Lovino Vargas."

"I see." There was silence for a moment as Lord Edelstein wrote out the letter. He handed it to Antonio. "Is that acceptable to you?"

Antonio read it over carefully. "Si, Your Majesty. Thank you."

"Give it here." Antonio handed it back and Lord Edelstein sealed it with candle wax and stamped it with a ring from his finger. "I will return this to you once you complete my quest. Good luck, peasant."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Good luck to all of you," Lord Edelstein added, more imperiously. "Now get out of my sight."


	3. Chapter 3

"I don't see why he couldn't get one of his own knights to go on this stupid quest," Gilbert complained, hopping over a fallen log.

"I think that is because the tournament we interrupted was supposed to choose the knight _for _this quest."

"Keh! It's not _my_ fault that all his knights are little sissies!"

"Maybe it is a good thing, amigo," Antonio suggested. "Maybe this woman, she will be a pretty woman. And she is a princess, si? Maybe she will give us a little something for rescuing her." He fell into step with Luddy. "What would you ask her for, Niño?"

Luddy thought it over. "Well… we need a new roof on the house…"

Antonio laughed and ruffled Luddy's hair, which Luddy didn't appreciate. Probably not even that he minded Antonio being all affectionate and crap. Probably for some dumb reason, like it messed up his hair. Gilbert wedged himself in between them.

"That's all you want? A stupid roof?"

"Well, what would you ask for?"

"A wall."

"What?"

"You heard me. A big one, all around the swamp."

"But… why, Bruder?"

"Because I want one, that's why!" Gilbert tried to storm on ahead. Luddy ran after him.

"Um, Bruder…? I think that I should lead." Gilbert glared at him. Luddy shrugged. "It's just that… You do not have a very good sense of direction." Gilbert huffed.

"Fine. Do whatever you want."

"Yes, Bruder."

* * *

><p>"Mr. Antonio?" Luddy asked as they stopped to make camp for the night. He was in the middle of arranging rocks for a fire pit. He had paused in his work, looking at Antonio in bemusement.<p>

"Si, Niño?"

"What did you say his name was?"

"Whose name, Niño?"

"The name of your boy. The one that you wanted to rescue."

"Ah, si…" Antonio cleared his throat. "Lovino Vargas. That was his name."

"Lovino Vargas…" Luddy repeated. He appeared to be thinking about something very hard. "Vargas…?" Gilbert felt his stomach clench.

"Is there a problem, Niño?"

"No… Not exactly… It's just that-"

"Hey. Luddy," Gilbert said roughly.

"Yes Bruder?"

"Stop talking like a little girl and get the stupid fire going."

"Yes Bruder." Gilbert watched him carefully as he bent his head to his work, but Luddy did not look up again.

"You are a surprising man, amigo," Antonio said a little later, sitting down beside him. Luddy was cooking some of the dried fish he had brought, paying them no attention. Gilbert frowned.

"What are you talking about?"

"Your wall amigo."

"What about my wall?"

"I just never would've expect it, that's all." He looked at Gilbert very carefully. "I did not think that you are the kind of man who wanted to hide."

"Who asked you?" Gilbert stood up abruptly. "Luddy! Give me my fish!"

"Be patient, Brudher."

* * *

><p>Gilbert had trouble sleeping that night. He decided to blame it on Antonio. The loser in question was snoring softly, sleeping like a rock, the stupid jerk face. Where did he get off accusing Gilbert of wanting to hide? What business of it was his if Gilbert wanted to build a wall? That's right. It <em>wasn't <em>his business. He turned over irritably.

It was no business of Antonio's if three years ago, Gilbert had laid Ludwig's body on a crudely made table in the middle of a crudely made cabin in the middle of a swamp. It was no business of Antonio's if, four days later, Ludwig had opened his eyes and had seen Gilbert staring down at him anxiously and had asked "Do I know you?" It was no business of Antonio's if Ludwig couldn't remember anything earlier than three years ago and that was exactly the way Gilbert wanted to keep it.

"What will you do about the demon?" Antonio asked on their second day.

"What _about_ the demon?"

"This is heavy stuff amigo. Demons, you have to be careful with them, si? This one is supposed to be guarding the princess; it will not let her go without a fight. I worry that you do not know what you are dealing with."

"And you do?" Gilbert looked at him. Antonio held his stare.

"I think that I know better than you do, si."

"Yeah, I doubt it."

Antonio only smiled. "I just think that you should be careful, amigo."

* * *

><p>It had taken them a week to reach it but finally, there it was. The castle stood on a rocky island in the middle of a lake of lava. For a moment, all the three of them could do was stare at it. Then:<p>

"Stay here," Gilbert ordered, hopping over the volcano's edge. Sliding a few feet down the ashy slope, he could hear Luddy and Antonio scrambling after him.

"Wait, Bruder!"

"Wait, amigo! You can't be wanting to fight this thing by yourself!"

"Of course I am. I am awesome. The two of you will just get in my way."

"There is no way I am letting you go in there alone Bruder."

"I don't care what you will let me do. You think that stupid deck brush will actually be useful or something?"

"I am coming with you."

"No, you are not." He tried to walk away but Luddy followed him. Gilbert spun around.

"You are _not_ coming!"

"Yes I am."

Antonio spoke up. "This is getting us nowhere, amigos. Let me suggest something. Why don't the Niño and I wait at the entrance? Then, we will be there if you need help."

Gilbert looked at him suspiciously. "You'll stay right there the whole time?"

"Until you send for us, amigo."

"I won't. Fine. Whatever. Come. I don't care."

He put his hands of the guard rails and launched himself out onto the rickety bridge. It swayed wildly.

"Be careful, Bruder!" Luddy called from where he was following at a more careful pace. "This thing could break at any moment!" Gilbert pretended not to hear him.

* * *

><p>No one had come to the castle in a long time. The sun had come and gone. The moon had died and was born again. The trees in the distance had grown barren twice since the last human face had gazed upon the castle halls.<p>

The demon was bored. The demon was hungry.

Voices. The demon lifted its head and sniffed the wind.

Humans were coming.

The demon was hungry.

Loud voices. Voices without fear. Different than all the voices that had come before, but that meant nothing. Humans were not like the moon and the trees. Humans did not grow back.

The princess was stirring. The demon always knew what the princess was doing.

_Who's there? Is someone coming?_

Voices. Voices below. Time to move. The demon crawled down. Down to where the voices were. Voices without fear. Voices attached to bodies that could be eaten.

So hungry.

They were outside still. Coming over the lake of flame. Two big. One little. The princess was scared.

_But- That's a child! Why would they bring a child here?_

The demon crawled down the wall. Onto the floor. Hid itself in piles of stone. Stared out at the humans. They had been three voices. Now, they were only two. They sat. They waited.

Easy prey. The demon leapt.

* * *

><p>Half-way up an impossibly long staircase, Gilbert heard his little brother yell. He turned around and started running.<p>

* * *

><p>"Niño!" Antonio pushed Ludwig behind a fallen pillar and ran. The demon leapt after him, chasing him through corridors, weaving in and out of columns. Antonio was fast but he couldn't run forever. Already the demon was gaining on him.<p>

Finally, he rounded a corner that was a dead end. He slid to a halt and spun to face his hunter, armed with a sword and dagger. For a split second, he and the demon stared at each other.

Antonio charged. The demon sprang. Antonio hit the floor and slid under the demon's belly, swinging his sword up as he did so. There was a roar of pain. The demon rolled as it hit the floor, then scrambled to its feet and sprang again.

* * *

><p>A stone hit the demon in the side of the head.<p>

_Hey! You there!_

By the window. Something else. The little one. The demon turned its head slowly to gaze upon the other figure. Tiny and yellow haired, battle ready with its stick of wood. (Strange. No steel to this one. And yet-) It glared up at the demon, dripping with defiance.

Something was wrong with this one. Something different. The demon would kill it easily.

In the background, the demon heard the princess scream.

_No! Please stop this! He's only a child!_

But suddenly, the child was gone, blocked from view by another human, white and red eyed and full of snarling protective fury as it leapt, swinging its sword at the demon's face.

_Don't touch mein bruder!_

The demon dodged. Not fast enough. Pain in its shoulder. The two went rolling together, hacking and slashing and snarling.

Something was wrong with this one too. It was too strong. Stronger than any of the ones before. Kill it quickly. The demon swiped.

The red eyed one went flying into a wall. It was still hauling itself to its feet when the demon sprang.

Agony spread up its body like fire as the red eyed one drove the steel deep into the demons chest. Those red eyes stared up as it pushed the steel in deeper, baring its teeth while the demon died.

* * *

><p>The white light began somewhere under where his sword was driven in deep. It spread out in all directions, snaking and twisting along the crumpled body. The lines laced themselves around the prone figure like cobwebs. Then, slowly, they peeled off and drifted up towards the ceiling. Gilbert twisted the sword sharply and the body shattered into a million little pieces.<p>

Gilbert turned back towards the others. Something hit him like a ton of bricks. Luddy.

"Bruder!" His little brother wrapped his arms around his waist and held on tight. Gilbert put a hand on his head and pulled him closer.

Then remembered himself.

Pushing Luddy away, he cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Told you I'd take care of it."

"Are you okay Bruder? You are hurt. Let me see." Luddy took him by the lapels and pulled him down gently to his level.

"I'm fine. Obviously." Undeterred, Luddy continued his examination. He didn't appear to believe him. Gilbert hesitated. "Are _you_ okay?"

Luddy nodded, still examining the wounds. "I think so."

Gilbert started down at him for a long moment, trying to decide what to do. But Luddy really did seem to be fine.

"Well… Good. Let's go rescue that sissy princess."

"Not until I am done here, Bruder."

"I told you; I am fine."

"You are not fine."

"Yes I am."

"You have to let me bandage you."

Gilbert was getting impatient. "Look, I am the leader here and if I say I'm fine, I'm fine! You are not the boss of me!"

"Hold still, Bruder."

With a huff, Gilbert complied, holding completely still while Luddy cleaned and bandaged his wounds. Antonio made himself useful as Luddy worked, fetching and holding things when he asked. When they were finally done and ready to go, Antonio grinned at him.

"You are quite the battle scarred hero, amigo. This princess, maybe she will give you a kiss, si?"

"She'd better not. I don't need some sissy princess kissing me."

Antonio tilted his head to the side. "I hope you do not plan to talk to her that way, amigo."

"Why shouldn't I?" "She's a princess Bruder. And she is a lady. You must be respectful to people like that."

"Keh!" Gilbert was going to do whatever he wanted and they all knew it. He found the staircase from earlier and started storming up it. Luddy and Antonio followed.

"She's probably some prissy little woman who can't even take care of herself. I bet she thinks men are only there to wait on her hand and foot."

"If that is true then she won't be thinking it for very long." There was a smile in Antonio's voice. "Not after she meets you anyway."

"Bruder, at least _try_ to be polite," Luddy said tiredly. Gilbert stopped short. The other two stopped behind him and looked where he was looking: at the door to the princess's chambers. It was heavily barred from the outside, but a crack of light was visible at the bottom.

Luddy nudged him. "Open the door Bruder."

"Fine. I will." And he lifted off the heavy crossbar that barred the door and flung it open wide.

* * *

><p>(<em>Author's Note<em>: Oh man, it's been a long, _looong_ time since I've updated. Does anyone even remember what this story is. If you do, you are clearly better readership than I deserve, and yes Beck, that was directed at you. And for those of you who reviewed, I cannot say how much I appreciated that as well.)


	4. Chapter 4

"Are you okay? You're not hurt are you? Let me see." The three of them stared in surprise at the young woman kneeling in front of Luddy. She ran her hands over his face and shoulders, inspecting him closely. Satisfied that he was fine, she glared up at Gilbert. "What were you thinking, bringing a child to a place like this?"

Gilbert glared back. "That's none of your business."

"But it is my business. It is my business whenever someone comes to rescue me."

"Please, Your Majesty," Luddy said, cutting of Gilbert's retort. "It is my fault. I didn't think it was a good idea for him to come by himself."

"There is blame to share, Your Majesty," Antonio agreed. She looked between the three of them warily. Taking a breath, she seemed to calm down.

"You're right. Please, I was very rude. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Elizaveta Hedevary."

Antonio took her hand and bowed over it. "Antonio Fernandez," he said, kissing her hand. "Your Majesty."

She smiled. "How do you do, Mr. Fernandez."

"Ludwig Beilschidmt," Luddy said, also bowing. "Your Majesty."

"Master Beilschidmt." She dropped a prissy little curtsy.

Gilbert was getting annoyed with all this useless pomp and circumstance crap. "Are we done yet?"

"Bruder!" Luddy's voice was sharp. It was the voice that he used when you needed to shut up or There Would Be Consequences. Gilbert shut up.

That didn't mean he was happy about it.

The princess looked at him. "And what is your name, sir knight?"

"I'm not a knight. I hate knights."

"That is my brother, Gilbert," Luddy said, sounding half weary, half apologetic. "He is this rude to everybody."

"Can we go yet?"

"Bruder…"

"No, he's right," the princess said, to Gilbert's great surprise. "We must leave as soon as possible." Squaring her shoulders, she faced Gilbert directly. "You may kiss me."

"_What_?"

"What?"

"…Your Majesty?" Antonio looked as surprised as he felt.

"Why would I want to kiss you?" Gilbert demanded.

It was the princess' turn to look surprised. "But… you came here to rescue me, didn't you? Surely, you understand what that means?"

"Well, yeah, but _we're_ not the ones who want to kiss you." Gilbert was utterly disgusted. "What a stupid idea." She frowned at him.

"It is not us who seek your love, Your Majesty," Antonio explained. "It is for the Lord Edelstein that we have undertaken this quest."

She took a moment to process this. "And where is Lord Edelstein now?"

"He is in his palace, awaiting your return, Your Majesty."

The princess looked from one of them to the next, slowly. "How far is Lord Edelstein's palace?"

"It is a journey of a week, Your Majesty," Antonio explained gently.

"Didn't you bring an escort?"

"No, Your Majesty. It is just us."

There was a kind of pause. "Well then what are we waiting for?" she said. "We must leave at once!" Abruptly, she spun around and began rifling through her dresser. Pausing in her work, she turned around and smiled politely. "Would you gentlemen give me a moment's privacy?"

"What fo-"

"Of course Your Majesty," Antonio interrupted, shoving Gilbert behind him towards the door. Luddy grabbed Gilbert's hand and dragged him away while Antonio bowed them out.

Luddy turned on him as they congregated on the stairwell landing. "Bruder, what did I say about behaving yourself?"

Gilbert was not about to take this from him. "Shut up! She started it!"

"She was just worried about me!"

"Yeah well, who asked her to worry about you?"

"I'm sure you will be very surprised to learn that sometimes people care about something more than just themselves!"

That stung. And was totally uncalled for. Luddy of all people should know how uncalled for that was. Gilbert cleared his throat to say something but just then the door opened and the princess stepped out.

"Well then? Are we ready to leave?"

Gilbert stared. Gone was the stupid, fancy green dress with the stupid, prissy gold trim. Gone was the long, useless, flow-y hair. She had tied it back, completely out of her face and she was dressed in-

_Is she wearing pants?_

…

_Is she wearing a _sword?

…_huh._

"I believe we are ready, Your Majesty," Antonio agreed. She nodded and smiled at him.

"Well then, lead the way, Sir Antonio."

Antonio gave a completely retarded bow. "As you command, Your Majesty. Come Niño," he said, turning to head down the stairs.

As they made their way out of the castle, over the bridge, Gilbert kept his eyes on Luddy's back. Luddy didn't really mean what he'd said, did he? About Gilbert not caring about anyone other than himself? Okay, yeah, he hadn't really _said_ that he thought that but he'd kind of _implied_ that he thought that. But he couldn't possibly think that, right?

…Right?

"You seem bothered, amigo," Antonio observed, falling into step with him. "What is it that troubles you?"

"You," Gilbert snapped. "Leave me alone."

Antonio didn't seem offended by this at all. He shrugged and smiled. "As you wish, amigo." He moved to catch up with Luddy who was once again leading the way. "Niño! Do you wish to sing with me?"

"I would like that, Mr. Antonio."

Great. Antonio singing. With Luddy. Why couldn't that stupid Antonio sing on his own for once? And while he was at it, what could Antonio possibly have to sing about?

Gilbert dropped even further behind and hoped that something happened to dampen the others' mood before he was stuck on a trip full of singing, dancing fairy tale characters who were charming birds out of the trees.

With a start he realized that a third voice had been added to the mix. The princess was singing with them. Antonio realized it at almost the same moment and he broke off the song to address her.

"You know this song, Your Majesty?"

She smiled. "Yes. I believe I must remember it from my childhood."

"If you will permit me to say, Your Majesty, you have a very fine voice."

"Ah, no, my voice is not so fine. I have not had proper training for it, you see."

"What you lack in training, you make up for in talent, Your Majesty."

Gilbert mostly ignored them at this point and returned to staring at Luddy's back, willing him to turn around and smile at Gilbert, to do or say something that showed that he _hadn't_ meant what he said before, that he _knew_ Gilbert cared about more than just himself-

_Screw this._

Picking up the pace, Gilbert caught up with his little brother.

"Hey Luddy, this is pretty awesome, huh? We got our princess, we're on our way back… Those stupid soldiers are good as gone."

Luddy frowned. "Yes, that is true but…" He trailed away.

"What?"

"Bruder, what is so bad about letting the soldiers use our land? We should be doing our part to support the army…"

"Screw the army." Gilbert's voice was cold. "And don't give me that crap about 'doing my part.' I'm not letting those losers anywhere near our land and if they don't like it, sucks to be them!" He kicked a stone viciously. It went bouncing ahead.

"I am sorry that you feel that way," Luddy said. "But it would not hurt you to be a little more generous."

"It wouldn't hurt them to leave us alone!"

Luddy looked up at him, a disappointed look in his eyes. Gilbert hated that look. Luddy sighed and he sounded like an old, old man. Gilbert hated that too.

"You are very selfish sometimes, Bruder," he said. Gilbert stopped short. Luddy kept going. Gilbert stood were he was, staring after him. Antonio placed a sympathetic hand on his should as he passed. Gilbert jerked back, glaring.

"Don't touch me!" he snapped, but Antonio had already passed.

"Is something wrong?" the princess asked in concern.

"None of your business."

She frowned at him, like she was displeased with his rudeness, like she expected better from an _adult_, but that just reminded him of Luddy and that didn't help.

He sulked along at the back of the party until they stopped to make camp for the night.

* * *

><p>There were four around the campfire. Two slept. Two sat, keeping watch.<p>

"Your brother's dreams are troubled, Niño."

"They have been that way ever since I can remember. …He sleeps better when I am there but…"

"What are his dreams?"

"I don't know. Sometimes he talks in his sleep but… I can never tell what he says."

For a moment neither said anything. Then:

"Your brother loves you very much, Niño."

"I know he does."

* * *

><p>"<em>Say something," Gilbert snaps. The other man stays silent. He always does. No matter how much you need him to talk, he just stays silent. He looks at Gilbert over the captain's shoulder and twists his sword deeper and deeper into the captain's back. The tip goes clean through to the other side.<em>

_There's a corresponding wound in Gilbert's chest. Blood pours from it. "Stop that!" There's blood coming out his mouth now; it's dribbling down his chin. "I'm not _you_; this wasn't my fault!" _

_The other man just looks at him. _

"_IT WASN'T!" _

_There's something missing, someone missing. What's wrong with this scene, what's happening, why can't he think, who is he missing-_

_It's going black now. He's feeling light headed. Blood pools around his feet. "It wasn't my fault," he mumbles, slouching forward. There should be someone else here. There should. He knows there should. "… It wasn't…"_

* * *

><p>In his sleep, Gilbert's fist clenched around the space in the blanket were Luddy usually was. The dream got worse.<p>

* * *

><p><em>In the distance he can hear the demon roar. It is followed by the sound of a child screaming.<em>

_He knows who he forgot now._

* * *

><p><em>(Author's Note: <em>Hi there. Sorry to bother you guys but one thing I'd love is some feedback, especially on characterization. The character I feel most at sea with here is lady-like!Elizaveta. I find her much easier to write when she's being a tomboy, so any advice or comments you could make on her characterization so far would be much appreciated. Heck, any advice or comments you could make on anything so far would be much appreciated.


	5. Chapter 5

Gilbert awoke to the sound of frying eggs. Luddy and the princess sat by the fire, talking quietly. Frowning, Gilbert rolled over and got up. As he got closer, he could make out what they were saying.

"It's oregano," the princess said. "I get it fresh from the garden."

"Oregano," Luddy repeated. He looked down to where the eggs sizzled away.

"You have a garden, Your Majesty?" Antonio asked.

The princess smiled. "Yes, it was on the roof top in another part of the castle." Her smile widened at their surprised expressions. "What can you possibly be thinking? Of course I didn't spend all my time in my room. I had much to take care of."

"…Like what?" Gilbert asked before he could stop himself. The princess turned her attention towards him.

"Well, I had to mend my clothes or weed the garden or prepare my dinner." She laughed, a little self-conscious. "I'm afraid I haven't been living very much like a princess these past few years. It seems I have forgotten how to be one."

"Not at all, Your Majesty," Antonio said graciously.

"You still look like a prissy weakling to me," Gilbert agreed.

"_Bruder!_"And Gilbert's mouth snapped shut because he really didn't want a repeat performance of yesterday. The princess, however, held his gaze evenly.

"I don't think you would say that if you knew me a little better, Mr. Beilschmidt."

Gilbert wasn't really sure how to respond to that. After a moment he scoffed and looked away.

"Breakfast, Bruder?" Luddy asked, offering him his plate. Gilbert took it wordlessly, grateful that Luddy seemed to be talking to him again. He ate in silence, watching the princess out of the corner of his eye. Something was off about her. Something he didn't really know how to react to. It was probably the pants. Yeah. That had to be it. Seriously, what kind of woman walked around in _pants_?

_What a weirdo._

They moved on again after breakfast. They were walking down the path in silence when Gilbert let out a rather impressive belch.

"What do you say after that, Bruder?" Luddy asked automatically.

"Nice eggs, Luddy."

"_Excuse me_."

"For what?"

"Bruder…"

"Fine, fine, 'excuse me.' Happy?"

"Well, I would be except that I did not make the eggs. The princess made them."

"Really?" Gilbert glanced back to where the princess was watching this exchange with interest. To his utter shock, she grinned at him and let out a belch of her own.

"I'm glad you enjoyed them," she said as she walked past them. Luddy and Gilbert stopped to stare at her.

_What a weirdo!_

Antonio was laughing. "That was very impressive, Your Majesty."

"Thank you," she said, laughing with him. "Though it doesn't quite seem like the thing to do when you're trying to remember how to act like a princess."

"You still have a week to practice, Your Majesty," Antonio assured her. "Do not concern yourself too much."

As they stopped for lunch, the princess said, "Mr. Fernandez, would you do me the honor of a duel?" Gilbert and Luddy look up.

Antonio looked surprised for a moment. Then he smiled and inclined his head. "The honor is mine, Your Majesty. …But I am hoping you do not mean to fight me with steel?"

"No, not at all," the princess agreed. "It has been a long time since I had a live partner to fight with. I do not think steel would be a good idea just yet."

_Just yet? _Gilbert knew the princess carried a sword, come on, it was a little hard to forget, but she didn't actually know how to _use_ the thing, did she?

With Luddy's help the two of them found a pair of sticks, similar in length and relatively straight. They stood facing each other with Luddy standing between them as a kind of referee. Gilbert sprawled off to the side. He wasn't expecting it to be much fun, watching Antonio beat up a girl, but it'd pass the time.

"Are you both ready?" Luddy asked, looking between them. They nodded. "Very well. Begin!"

Antonio jabbed his stick at her experimentally. The princess blocked. He tried again. The princess blocked that attempt too and moved into a counter strike.

Gilbert sat up a little straighter.

Antonio blocked her with apparent ease, but she came at him again. And again.

This was totally not going how Gilbert had pictured.

The princess' reaction time was a little shaky- she reacted with more instinct than technique- but she clearly knew a thing or two about swordplay. Her form was excellent. Not that Gilbert was ever going to tell her that.

Back and forth it went, she mostly attacking, he mostly defending. Antonio was the better of the two of them, hands down, but _frick_, that princess could _move_. Old Tony was definitely getting more than he bargained for.

"What do you think, Bruder?" Luddy asked, settling down on the grass beside him. "She is very fast."

"Eh." Gilbert watched her twist out of the way of Antonio's stick. "I could still hit that."

(It occurred to him after a moment that that might have come out wrong, but whatever. Neither Antonio nor the princess had heard him and all you had to do was look at Luddy to know it'd gone right over his head.)

"You have a rare gift, princess," Antonio said when they had finished. He flopped down onto the grass next to Luddy. The princess sat down on the other side of him.

"You are very kind," she said. Her face was flushed and she couldn't seem to stop grinning. "But I am not so talented at all. I'm afraid I have had no practice fighting against a real opponent."

"Do not trouble yourself, Your Majesty," Antonio assured her. "You are off to a great start."

"How did you learn such things, Your Majesty?" Luddy asked.

"There were several books in the castle library on the subject. I studied very hard."

"…Why?"

The princess looked a Gilbert. "Excuse me?"

"Why would you want to learn swordplay? I mean…" Gilbert wrinkled his nose. "You're a _girl_."

If Gilbert didn't know better, he'd say that the princess was _smirking_ at him. But prissy, perfect little princesses didn't do things like _smirk_ so obviously she wasn't smirking at him.

Obviously.

"I have said this before, Mr. Beilschmidt, but you do not know me very well. If you did I think you would not say such things about me."

"Oh yeah? Well, I know your footwork sucks."

To his great disappointment, the princess didn't rise to the bait. She simply glanced down at her feet, looking thoughtful. "I suppose you're right about that. I have not had the proper instruction."

"Mein bruder could teacher you," Luddy piped up.

Gilbert stared at him. "What?"

"Bruder is an amazing swordsman," Luddy said, continuing as though Gilbert hadn't spoken.

The princess smiled. "He has given me no reason to doubt that," she said. "But I would not want to trouble him."

"I'm sure that it would be fine," Luddy said as if he hadn't completely lost it. Gilbert stared at him.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm sure that you could teach her, right Bruder?" Luddy turned to look at him. Okay. He'd completely lost it. There was something in his expression though, that made Gilbert think twice about trying to assert his totally alpha-male authority. Gilbert sighed.

"Yeah, _fine_," he said, climbing to his feet. "Come on," he ordered the princess. "Get up."

She shook her head. "Please, don't force yourself to do this. I wouldn't want to be any trouble."

"It is no trouble, Your Majesty," Luddy assured her.

"Unless you're too scared," Gilbert added. The princess frowned at him.

"I'm not scared."

"Well then what's the matter? I thought you said you weren't a prissy little girl." Gilbert grinned down at her. Her frown turned into a scowl and he felt his grin widen. Yeah, she was mad now.

This was going to be _easy_.

Grabbing Antonio's stick from him, Gilbert waited for the princess to get up. She had barely made it to her feet before he swung hard at her. She ducked it and before she could recover, he'd landed a neat blow to the side of her neck.

"Bruder!"

"Ow!" Her hand flew to her neck and she gritted her teeth. "What are you doing, Bruder? She is not ready yet!"

Luddy wanted him to teach the princess? Luddy didn't like his teaching style? Sucked to be Luddy. He swung his stick again. She barely got hers up into time to block.

"Wait! What are you doing?"

"Kesesese! You are such a pansy!"

She glared at him and thrust at his midsection. He knocked her stick away easily and took the opportunity to land a blow to her side as well.

"Bruder, what is your problem? That is no way to treat a princess!"

"What I am supposed to be doing? Playing house?"

Keh! She was learning already. This time she didn't attack him but held her stance, watching him warily. He was such an awesome teacher.

He feinted to her right side and when she moved to block, slashed at her left side instead. She stumbled and he stepped back to let her recover because he was just nice like that.

"I thought you were just going to show her some footwork!" Luddy protested from the sidelines.

"This is the best way to learn!"

"Amigo, I do not think Lord Edelstein will be very pleased if we deliver the princess to him like this." Antonio had gotten to his feet, looking about ready to stop the whole thing.

"Screw Lord Edelstein."

"Amigo…"

"I'm fine," the princess said. Gilbert looked back at her. She held her stance and glared at him.

He'd say this for her: she had guts.

"See? She is fine." And with that, he lashed out at her again.

They didn't go for as long as Gilbert wanted; Luddy cut them short because he thought Gilbert wasn't "going easy enough" or some crap like that. Keh! If the princess ever got into a real situation where she needed her sword, no one was going to go easy on her there.

As they started on their way again, the princess seemed to be tired out. She started in the front with Luddy and as they walked, she began to lag. Now she had fallen back to where Antonio walked, now she was only a few paces ahead of Gilbert. Soon, she was trailing after even him.

Antonio suggested that they stop to make camp early that night, or at the very least take an extra break later in the afternoon, but the princess insisted that she was fine. As the day wore on, however, she slowed more and more, though she never complained.

Finally, sometime in the mid-afternoon, Antonio asked if they couldn't stop for the day, claiming to be tired. He was still on thin ice with Luddy so Gilbert kept the grumbling to a minimum and crashed off into the forest instead to find some fresh meat for dinner. He was getting sick of eating everything dried.

After a meal of roasted porcupine ("Are you sure it did not stick any quills in you, Bruder?" "I already told you! I am fine!") the four of them settled down for the night. Gilbert awoke at some late hour to hear the princess tossing and turning in her sleep. He raised his head to squint over to where she lay, on the other side of the fire pit.

"What the heck?"

"She must be having a bad dream," Luddy said behind him. He was sitting up so he could see as well. "She was not like this last night."

Gilbert lowered himself back down, keeping his eyes fixed on the princess.

"I wonder what she is dreaming about?" Luddy said softly.

"What do you think she is dreaming about?" Gilbert might have felt something kind of like sympathy for her. After all, he knew a thing or two about demon filled nightmares.

No one said anything about it the next day when there were black bags under the princess' eyes.

She seemed to get worse the further they went. They had not been on the road one hour after lunch when the three of them turned around to find the princess retching into a bush.

"Please, Your Majesty," Antonio said, placing a gentle hand on her back. She wiped her mouth. "You need to rest. Let us go no further today."

"No!" She said it with a passion that took them all by surprise. "Please," she added, quieter this time. "We must keep going."

Gilbert and Luddy and Antonio all looked at each other uncertainly, but finally they agreed, though Antonio insisted they take a short break first. The princess made no objection to this and soon they were on their way again.

The princess' strength was running out fast. Luddy unscrewed the handle of his deck brush and gave it to her to use as a walking stick. He walked along side her as they went, sometimes in silence, sometimes singing softly to himself. Whenever they came to a difficult section in their walk, Luddy would go on first, finding the easiest route and helping the princess along it. A sheen of sweat had broken out over her forehead by this point and it wasn't just from walking.

"I do not like this amigo," Antonio said, taking him aside. "We must stop for the night soon, si?"

It was the princess herself who decided when to stop. "Please," she said, sitting herself down on a nearby rock. "I can go no further today."

"Very well, Your Majesty," Antonio said. "We can stop here."

It was a good place to stop, Gilbert noted privately. They were under a rocky out cropping, at least partially sheltered from the wind or rain. There was even a shallow cave nearby. It had probably been a bear's den at one point but it was long since abandoned now.

The princess stood up suddenly and stumbled into the cave. Inside, they could hear her retching again. Luddy looked after her sympathetically. There was silence for a long time after that. The princess didn't reappear.

"Do you think that she is okay in there?" Luddy asked in concern.

"I do not know, Niño." Antonio stood up. "I will go check."

"I will come with you." Luddy got up and went after him. Gilbert sighed.

"Fine, fine." He followed.

The air in the cave hit him like a wet blanket, so thick he could almost taste it. He could see the princess at the far end of the cave, on her forearms, struggling to lift herself higher. A tingle went up and down Gilbert's spine. He knew this taste, knew this feeling. It was all wrong, this wasn't supposed to happen-

Stupid. He was so _stupid._

"Tony," Gilbert said. His throat was dry. "Get Luddy out of here."

"Amigo? What's wrong?"

"Get him out of here!" Gilbert snapped. "Do it!"

"Bruder?"

"Go!"

Antonio looked at him for a beat too long before putting his hand on Luddy's shoulder. "Come Niño. Do as your brother says."

"Bruder? I don't understand. What is wrong with h-"

"I said _GO!" _Gilbert drew his sword and swiped at them. Antonio and Luddy pulled back. "Get out of here!"

Luddy looked at him in wonder but allowed Antonio to lead him out of the cave. Gilbert looked after them longer than he should've.

"Hey. Jackass." He turned back around. By this point, the princess was too weak to even lift her head. Hair fell over her shoulders, hiding her face. "Is the kid gone?"

"Yeah." Gilbert's voice was rough. "He's gone."

"Good." The princess let out a sigh of relief. It made Gilbert's skin crawl. "You'd better not let him get hurt."

The edges of her fingers were already turning black. "You think I'd let that happen? You must be even stupider than I thought."

"Idiot." It was getting harder for her to talk now. "I really don't think-"She took a shaky breath. "You should be making me mad right now."

"Bring it on." Gilbert sat down in the middle of the cave's mouth, blocking the entrance. And with sword ready, he waited for the princess to turn back into the demon.


	6. Chapter 6

It wasn't pretty. The limbs grew and twisted with terrible wrenching sounds. The skin mottled and flaked before turning black and tough as nails. Gilbert wondered if it was as painful as it looked. He had a feeling it was worse. Life was a dick that way.

Her power of speech was long gone by now but she still had a ways to go. She wasn't paying attention to him anymore. She didn't seem to be paying attention to anything at all.

Gilbert hoped Luddy and Antonio were far, far away by now. How long had it been? Two hours? Three? Ten minutes? He didn't know. It didn't matter.

He would stretch occasionally, partially to keep loose but also just to have something to do. The waiting was the worst part. The anticipation.

Time crawled on. Gilbert waited. Bit by bit, the demon emerged.

Suddenly, it was time. At the other end of the cave, the figure had gone completely still. Gilbert took his stance.

Slowly, slowly, the demon raised its head to look at him.

The demon charged.

Gilbert met it head on and the two went rolling together on the cave's sandy floor, snarling and slashing and snapping. Gilbert was too close to use his sword's blade so he beat at the demon with the hilt. For one terrible second, the demon had him pinned. Gilbert grabbed a handful of sand, throwing it in the demon's face.

_Classic_, Gilbert thought with grim satisfaction as he felt the demon pull away. He rolled to his feet and thrust at it with his sword. The demon threw up a clawed hand and caught the blade, still half blind. For a moment, they were locked, the demon gripping tight and Gilbert pushing hard. Grey blood dripped from between the demon's claws.

Gilbert wrenched his sword out and swung again, gaining a direct hit to the demon's side. In the second Gilbert needed to recover his balance, the demon slashed at him. He barely managed to get his arm up in time to shield his head.

Pain drilled into his arm and shoulder as the claws made contact. Gritting his teeth, he yanked his sword back. The demon howled as the blade slid out of its side. It raked its claws across Gilbert's arm as it writhed, making Gilbert hiss as he drove the sword's hilt into the demon's chest.

The two fell back and regarded each other warily. Through the pain bursting in his arm, something was nagging at him. Watching the demon hedge around him, he was struck with the memory of the human princess and her crappy footwork.

Through his pain, Gilbert grinned. There was a better way to do this.

He waited.

One more time, the demon sprang. Gilbert twisted neatly out of the way, aiming a slash at the demon's back. The demon hit the ground and Gilbert was on it in a second, driving his sword through the back of the demon's head.

It was different this time. This time the demon didn't just crumple away into nothing. It was like watching ashes fly up from a fire, as the blood evaporated and the black, broken skin flaked off. The pieces drifted up and away, leaving in their wake the limp body of the princess.

It seemed impossible that she could look so clean after all that. His right side was soaked, his face was flecked with two different colors of blood and she just lay there looking for all the world as if she'd just fallen asleep.

_She is such a_ jerk.

Gilbert nudged her with his foot. "Hey." He was breathing hard. The blood loss was making him light-headed. "Wake up." She didn't stir. He nudged harder. "Wake _up!_"

She groaned a little at that, her eyes fluttering open. With a jolt, she sat straight up. "Oh no!" She stared up at him in horror. "Oh no…" Getting to her feet she said, "Sit down, please, you must sit down. You'll pass out."

Gilbert was too tired to do much more than scoff at the stupidity of this idea before sitting down anyway.

Her hands were fluttering over his face and over his shoulder. He tried to bat them away but it was getting harder and harder to focus. He heard her draw a sharp breath when she saw his arm.

"I'm sorry," she said, her voice cracking. "Please believe me; I am so, so, sorry."

Gilbert didn't know what to say to that so he didn't say anything. At first the pain had been sharp enough to keep him focused but now blood loss was taking over. There were dark spots in front of his vision.

The princess had torn open the fabric of his sleeve and was surveying the damage.

"Wait here," she said. Getting up quickly, she hurried out of the cave, returning a few minutes later with her knapsack. Rooting around inside, she pulled out a roll of bandages and some salve.

"Talk to me," she commanded as she began dressing his wounds.

"What for?"

"I don't want you passing out on me."

"I won't pass out."

"If you lose any more blood, you will."

"Well then maybe you should hurry up!"

She glared. "I'm going as fast as I can."

For a moment, neither of them said anything. Then the princess spoke again. "Tell me about your brother."

"What is there to tell? He is awesome."

"Do the two of you live alone? Where are your parents?"

"They are dead."

"…I'm sorry."

"Keh." This was getting too emotional for Gilbert. He tried and failed to think of something else to say.

It was the princess who broke the silence again. "My parents locked me up in that tower when I was eleven."

Eleven. That wasn't much younger than Luddy was now. He stared down at her. "How old are you?"

"I will be twenty in the spring."

Nine years. She'd been locked away in that stupid castle for _nine years._

Okay, compared to her, maybe he _was_ a wuss for complaining about living in a swamp for three years – not that he'd ever tell her that.

"Mr. Beilschmidt, I know things are not working out quite like you planned them but… I just want you to know that I am grateful to be out of the castle again."

"Why didn't you leave?"

"What?"

"It's not like the demon was keeping you in."

"But it was," the princess interrupted. "How could I have left that castle? What if I'd lost control? I could have killed someone. That is why my parents sent me there in the first place. To await my true love's kiss and break the spell."

"What are you _talking_ about?"

"Only my true love's kiss can break the demon's spell."

"Are you stupid? That is not how it works!" Kisses didn't solve anything. They just made things worse. There was no doubt in Gilbert's mind about that.

The princess glared at him. "It's true!"

"No, it is not!"

"You shouldn't talk about things you don't understand, Mr. Beilschmidt."

"I understand fine."

"Have you ever turned into a demon?"

"…No."

"Then I don't think you understand at all."

"Shows what you know." They glared at each other for a moment. Finally, the princess sighed.

"I do not want to be fighting you all the time, Mr. Beilschmidt. Not when you have helped me so much."

"I wasn't doing this for you."

"I know." She sat back, having finished her work. "But I am still grateful."

Gilbert didn't know what to say to that either. He looked away but he knew the princess was still watching him.

"You really must get some rest," she said. "I will get you things."

Under normal circumstances Gilbert might have taken issue with her touching his stuff, but he was tired. Besides, how many people could say that they had ever had a princess waiting on them? That was kind of awesome. She even laid out his bedroll for him when he came back, and helped him down into it. Gilbert reminded himself that it was awesome that a princess was waiting on him. Awesome and not pathetic. At all.

The day's light was failing. "You should rest now, Mr. Beilschmidt," the princess said as she helped him lay on his back. "If you need anything during the night, please, let me know."

"Keh! I will be fine."

She didn't look like she believed him. He couldn't say he really believed himself either.

When he woke up in a sweat that night, he couldn't even remember what the dream had been about. Somewhere off to his right, the princess was trembling in her sleep. He frowned as he listened to her. They made a pretty pathetic pair, lying in this cave in the middle of nowhere, crying in their sleep like little babies. Gingerly, he turned his head to in her direction.

_I am grateful,_ she had said. That disturbed him. He didn't want her to be grateful. He didn't want to think about someone being in his debt. He didn't want someone else in his life. He had Luddy. He did things for Luddy. Luddy was the only one who had any business being grateful to him.

_I am still grateful._ He turned his head away and tried to go back to sleep.

Maybe it was because he was hurt. Maybe it was his less-than-awesome dreams. Either way, Gilbert woke up earlier than he usually did. He lay awake, listening to the princess move around the cave. He saw sparks out of the corner of his eye. She was building a fire. He watched her for a moment. Something was nagging at him.

"Why weren't you naked?"

The princess's head snapped towards him. "_Excuse me?_"

"When you turned back. Where did your clothes come from?"

"…I didn't know you were interested, Mr. Beilschmidt." She sounded amused.

"I am not interested. Why would you think that I am interested? I am just_asking._"

He could still see her watching him. He had a sneaking suspicion that he was being laughed at. Finally she began stoking the fire. He looked away. He wasn't embarrassed. Or flustered. He wasn't. Why would he be? He could asked whatever he wanted.

He almost missed it when she started talking again. "My mother insisted on it."

"What?"

"When I was a little girl, after the witch cast her spell. Once my parents realized that it could not be reversed, my mother had my fairy godmother cast a spell so that I could keep my clothes when I changed back."

"…You mean that you were not born that way? With that demon?"

She looked at him strangely. "No, of course not. That is why the curse will break with my true love's kiss."

"Huh," he said, almost to himself. "…I did not know that was possible."

"I told you not to talk about things you don't understand, Mr. Beilschmidt."

He scowled at her. She smiled back sweetly. Then something seemed to occur to her. "How is your dressing?" She moved towards him. "Let me take a look."

"It is fine."

"Let me see it."

"I told you; it is fine."

"Then _let me see it._"

He took a moment longer to glare at her, but she was already reaching for the bandages. She made a small noise of surprise as she unwrapped them.

"These are not as deep as I thought they were…" She looked up at him. "You are very lucky."

"Or maybe I am just that awesome."

She didn't grace that with a response, just kept checking his wounds. Gilbert frowned as he watched her. "You have a fairy godmother?"

"Of course. Every princess has one."

"What do princes have?"

"Rights to the throne."

He paused uncomfortably. "That… sucks for you."

"Yep."

Something else had occurred to him. "Hey. If you need a kiss to break your curse then why did you even come with us? I am not your true love."

The princess looked surprised at the question. Then she sighed. "If what you say is true, that it is Lord Edelstein who wants to marry me, then I must go to him. And, to be honest, I was tired of waiting. Maybe it was selfish of me-"

"Yeah. It was."

She flinched but didn't object. "-but I really wanted to be out of that castle."

Gilbert looked at her long and hard. He still might not have _liked_ her exactly but he knew where she was coming from. He knew what it was like to feel trapped. He couldn't even be mad at her for putting Luddy in danger. That was mostly just his possessiveness talking, though. Luddy was _his_ little brother and it was _his_ job to keep him safe. Luddy didn't need anyone else.

The princess was talking again. Her voice was harder to hear this time. "I also thought… At least if anything goes wrong… This man is a match for me." She kept her head down. Gilbert stared at her some more. The tips of her ears were red. It took him a moment to realize emotion the princess was showing.

It was shame.

"Yeah, well…" Gilbert looked away. As un-awesome as it was to admit, he knew a thing or two about shame as well.

There was an uncomfortable kind of silence while she finished checking his dressings.

"Well, I don't think that we can go anywhere for a little while," she said finally. "You really need to rest."

"Keh. I am fine." He tried to push himself up. Immediately, the princess's hand was on his good shoulder, pushing him back.

"You are not fine," she said firmly. "You need to rest."

"I do not!"

"Yes. You do."

He pushed against her arm. She pushed back. "I will get up if I want to!"

"_Gilbert Fritz Beilschmidt._" The princess's voice became as authoritative as her rank. "Lie down or I will _make_ you lie down."

He stared her. "…How do you know what my middle name is?"

"Your brother told me."

"What a traitor."

She smiled. "Lie down, Mr. Beilschmidt." She shifted her weight to her heels and stood up, with him staring at her the whole time. "If you behave yourself, I might even let you have breakfast."


	7. Chapter 7

If there was one thing Gilbert and the princess could agree upon, it was the fact that Luddy was an idiot.

Tony was an idiot too, but that was just so obvious that there was no point in saying it. Tony was an idiot because he just couldn't help it. It wasn't his fault that he wasn't born with the awesomeness of the Beilschmidt family. Luddy was though and that was why Gilbert was so disappointed in him.

"This is not happening," Gilbert said.

"No," the princess agreed. "It certainly is not."

Gilbert thought that with the obvious exception of his awesome self, the princess might have been the only person in the world left with half a brain.

"There's just no way."

"None at all." They both looked at each other and then they looked at Luddy disapprovingly.

When Gilbert had woken up this morning, he had thought he was still dreaming. Luddy had been there staring down at him which would have been awesome except for the part where it wasn't. He wasn't supposed to be there. Gilbert had _told_ him not to be there. So he had sat up and had said "Are you stupid? What are you doing here?" And Gilbert didn't know what was wrong with his totally indisputable alpha dominance lately, but Luddy was just refusing to leave.

"I do not understand why I should," he had said. "You have already overpowered her twice."

"That's not the point!" Gilbert had snapped irritably. And then, to his overwhelming surprise, the princess had said "I agree."

"What would have us do, amigos?" Tony had said with his why-can't-we-be-friends attitude. "We all have a stake in this quest." _What a tool._

Gilbert and the princess were currently sitting on the opposite side of the cave, having a totally rational discussion, the way people with at least half a brain did, about how they were right and everyone else was dumb.

"They are so retarded."

"I completely agree."

"They are not staying."

"Of course not."

With that, Gilbert decided that they have looked at this issue from every possible angle. He stood up.

"Alright, Luddy, listen up," he announced. "You are not coming with us."

Luddy just gave him this _look_ and said "Bruder, even if you try to leave me here, I promise I will follow you all the way back to the castle." When Gilbert didn't know what to say to that, he added, "I trust that you will keep me safe, Bruder."

Oh, okay. Sure. Just suckerpunch Gilbert like that. That's cool.

He was saved from answering (not that he needed saving) when the princess said "Master Ludwig, please think about this. What if something happens while your brother is away? What if I do overpower him at some point?"

"These are rational points," Luddy said, as though he was the adult here and they were the kids. "But what will I do if I do not come with you? I am not familiar with this area."

Frick. Gilbert hadn't thought about that. Judging by the look on the princess' face, she hadn't thought about that either. Why hadn't she thought of that? Stupid princess.

He looked at her and she looked at him and then they were standing on the other side of the cave again.

"What shall we do?"

"Keh. He's just being stubborn. He'll come around." The princess looked at him like she didn't buy it. He didn't really buy it either.

"Mr. Beilschmidt, I think that we may have to allow him to come."

He forced a laugh. "Now you've lost it."

"No, listen to me. Your brother is right. We can't leave Mr. Fernandez with him; he was also promised a reward for rescuing me. And we certainly can't just leave him by himself." She tried a smile. "At least if he is with us, we will know where he is."

"I don't want him around you." To her credit, the princess didn't even flinch at this.

"I don't want him around me either." Her tone was perfectly even as she said it. "But what can we do? He will not leave you."

He opened his mouth to say something although he wasn't entirely sure what that something might be. Whatever it was, she interrupted him before he could get it out.

"Perhaps there are some advantages to this. If we work together, I believe that we can ensure that nothing will happen to him."

Gilbert's first instinct was to tell her that he could take care of his brother on his own, screw off, but he stopped. Maybe it wouldn't be the absolute worst thing ever to have her help. After all, how much easier would it have been to hold off the enemy if he had had help _from_ the enemy?

He looked over her shoulder to the other side of the cave. Luddy was watching him. Gilbert just managed to turn his sigh into a scoff.

"Keh. I guess it's not a terrible idea."

He pretended that the sympathy on her face didn't make him want to throw up.

"Very good. Now then, I need to check your bandages." She sat him down right there, without even bothering to explain to Luddy and Tony what they'd decided, without even looking in their direction. Gilbert liked her thinking.

After a couple minutes, Luddy and Tony finally found the balls to come over and talk to them. "Have you reached a decision?" Tony asked.

"Yeah." Gilbert still wasn't happy. "You can come."

"Thank you Bruder," Luddy said sincerely and Gilbert reflected on how sometimes he wished his little brother was more of a douche. That might have made it easier to stay annoyed at him.

"Your Majesty?" Tony asked. "When do you think Gilbert will be ready to travel again?"

The princess was silent for so long that Gilbert gingerly shifted around to see what her problem was. He could tell that she was staring at his back. When he moved, she snapped out of it. "Please forgive me, what did you say?"

"How long until Gilbert is ready to travel?"

The princess looked at Gilbert oddly before saying, "I believe that we can leave first thing in the morning."

"Excelente."

Gilbert was starting to feel a little nervous. He looked at the princess and found that she was already looking at him. Her head was tilted to one side. It reminded him of the way Luddy looked when he was seeing right through Gilbert and was trying to decide whether or not he should call him on it.

Gilbert was definitely feeling nervous.

Suddenly the princess turned to Tony and Luddy and smiled. "Mr. Fernandez, Master Beilschmidt, could you two possibly draw some water for dinner?"

Tony smiled at her. "Of course, Your Majesty."

Once they were gone, she turned to look at him. "When did you get that tattoo?"

"Why, you want one like it?" he fired back but the truth was, Gilbert hadn't had to think about his tattoo in so long that he had practically forgotten it was there. Stupid.

"I know what it is."

"Yeah. It's a tattoo."

"I know what it means." She looked at him steadily. "Please tell me when you got it."

"How should I remember? It was so long ago; it's not like I bother keeping track of this stuff."

She stared at him a while longer. Gilbert scowled, uncomfortable, but he held her gaze. "Does Ludwig have one?"

"That's none of your business." He glanced away, hating the direction this conversation was going and irritated with himself for not handling it better.

The princess sighed. "I suppose you're right. It is none of my business. Forgive me; it just seemed as though it could be important to Ludwig's safety. I thought that we had just agreed that _is_ my business."

Gilbert was definitely going red. Stupid pale skin. "It is still my business before it's yours. I will tell what I feel like telling you!"

She looked at him for another uncomfortably long moment. "Have it your way, Mr. Beilschmidt." Then she got up and went to make a fire in the fire pit that had mysteriously appeared while Gilbert was sleeping.

"Fine, I _will_," he muttered after her, but he didn't know if she heard him. She didn't respond.

Tony and Luddy came back and Luddy was quieter than usual. Gilbert watched him sitting there and staring at the fire for a while before he finally got up and eased himself next to him. "What's eating you?"

"Hm? Nothing, I just…" Luddy watched the fire absently. "I am just thinking."

Big surprise there. Luddy was always thinking. It'd been a long time since Gilbert had seen him like this though. That was just another thing to make him nervous. The universe obviously had it out for him lately. Gilbert didn't know what else to do so he sat next to Luddy in silence and glanced at him worriedly every three minutes and Luddy didn't even call him on it. Something must've really been bothering him.

It wasn't anything a meal could fix either. Luddy barely said two words to anyone the whole time they were eating and after helping clean up, he excused himself to go and sit by the mouth of the cave, taking his deck brush with him. Gilbert followed him but when Luddy saw him coming, he said "I would like to be alone."

Gilbert retreated and watched him from a safe distance. _What is his problem? He was fine when he went out…_

Tony. He had gone out with Tony. That loser must have said something to him and got Luddy was all depressed. Not awesome. Turning around, he spotted Tony talking to the princess by the fire and zeroed in on him.

"What did you say to him?" Gilbert demanded.

Tony looked at him then past him at Luddy. "I do not know why he is like this. We were just talking."

"About _what._" It was more of a demand than a question.

"He wanted to know more about my life before I became a wanted man. I told him of my mother and my house and the niño who lived with us-"

_Oh no. Of _course. "Are you stupid?" Gilbert snapped. _Stupid, stupid, stupid._ "Why would you do that?"

"I see no reason why I shouldn't have, amigo," Tony began but Gilbert was already storming away, back towards Luddy. When Luddy saw him coming, he got up and moved further away. Gilbert stopped cold. He knew better to mess with Luddy when he got like this. Gilbert glanced back at Tony and the princess awkwardly. Then he looked at Luddy again. Luddy's back was to him.

Gilbert turned around and went to sit back by the fire.

When he heard what they were talking about, he almost wished he hadn't.


	8. Chapter 8

"Amigo, tell me something," Tony said when he saw Gilbert approaching. "You and your brother are from the north, si?"

"So what?"

"You were there for the northern campaign?"

Gilbert was taken aback. "That is none of your business. Why would you care, anyhow?"

Tony smiled sadly. "Lovino was left behind when his grandfather and brother went to fight the northern campaign." He turned back to the princess. "I am thinking that his grandfather usually favored his brother over him. It hurt him very badly."

Gilbert was going to have some very choice words for God if he ever talked to Him again. _This is not happening. There is no way this is happening._ He sat down a good distance away from the other two.

"It is not for me to judge the people who hurt Lovino, Your Majesty," Tony continued. "I have hurt him too.

"Lovino was very difficult to understand. He was always rude and defensive." He glanced at Gilbert. "A little like you, amigo."

Gilbert flipped him off.

"He loved me though," Tony said quietly. "He loved my family too. I wish I had understood that."

"He came to live with me when I took over a satellite estate for my parents. Because of his complaining, I thought that he was not happy living with me or my family. So I hired him out to a southern caravaner who came through." Tony's voice got very quiet. "I know now that I was only thinking of what would be easiest for me. …I wish I had known how badly it would hurt him. Once I realized that, I went after that caravan and convinced them to return my nino to me. But it was several months before he would look at me. And to get him back, only to now have lost him again…" Tony sighed and was silent for a time. Then he glanced at the princess and smiled. "Forgive me, Your Majesty. You have enough troubles. You do not need to hear mine."

"No, no," the princess assured him. "Please don't feel you need to apologize to me."

"You can apologize to me though." Gilbert was annoyed by how uneven his voice sounded. "I don't care about your stories; I want to sleep."

Tony looked at him with compassion. Why were people doing that? Why did people think he needed their fricking compassion? He didn't need anyone.

As he was easing himself down onto his bedroll, Luddy came to sit near him. He didn't say anything, just sat there. Gilbert glanced warily at him, unsure how any attempt at conversation would be received. Luddy didn't give him any sign of encouragement, so he said nothing and pretended that he wasn't a whipped little snot.

He got his blanket over him and lay there uncomfortably, painfully aware that Luddy was still watching him. He didn't even dare think _what's his problem? _because sometimes it felt like Luddy could read his mind.

Tony and the princess let the fire die out and began to bed down for the night themselves. It was while Tony was stamping out the last embers of the fire that Luddy said "Bruder… whatever happens… whatever_ has_ happened… I will always love you."

Gilbert froze. His back was to Luddy and he didn't dare turn to look at him. He barely even dared to breathe.

"I hope will you remember that."

Gilbert didn't know what to say so he didn't say anything at all. Luddy didn't say anything else either.

It took a long time for Gilbert to fall asleep and when he did, Luddy still hadn't moved.

* * *

><p>It was very early morning when Gilbert woke up. He hadn't slept well. Gray light was filling the cave; it must have been nearly sunrise. Something warm was pressing into his back. Cautiously, he lifted his head and looked over his shoulder.<p>

Luddy was lying there, snuggled up next to him. Something tight unknotted itself in Gilbert's chest as he watched his brother. When he went back to sleep for the second time, he slept a little better.

* * *

><p>It was the smell of food that woke Gilbert next. The princess was crouching by the fire pit. Luddy's stew pot was set low over the coals, and the princess was stirring it. The air smelled of cooking meat and Gilbert was <em>hungry<em>. He sat up. The princess smiled at him.

"Mr. Beilschmidt, you're awake." She handed him a bowl of soup. Gilbert reached for it eagerly.

While he was eating, he could see the others were moving around the cave, getting ready to leave. Luddy was packing Gilbert's things up for him. Gilbert watched him warily. Luddy didn't speak to him.

The princess checked his wounds (more like checked out his tattoo) one more time and declared him fit for travel.

Just like that, they were on the road again. It seemed so strange to be walking again with the other three. Only a day or two (or three?) had passed since they were temporarily separated but things had changed. The princess walked beside him now, with Luddy leading them and Tony in between. Whether he knew it or not, Tony had become the group's designated Meat Shield.

Meat Shield turned around to smile at the princess. "I must thank you for breakfast, Your Majesty," he said. "It was delicious."

"It my pleasure, Mr. Fernandez."

"Your Majesty, I hope that I'm am not being too forward, but I would like it if you would call me Antonio." Gilbert rolled his eyes. "We are friends now, si?"

The princess was obviously caught off guard. "Why… yes, I guess we are friends," she said. She smiled. "But, in that case, you must call me Elizaveta." Before Gilbert could comment on how lame they were, she turned to him and said "That goes for you too."

…_What?_ Gilbert didn't really know what to make of that. Obviously the princess wasn't as useless as he thought she was going to be but were they _friends_? Did he even need friends? _Why would I want friends? _

While he was lost in thought, Tony and the princess had continued their conversation. "I suppose that you must have often killed your own game while you lived in the castle."

"I certainly did," the princess said, and there was no mistaking the pride in her voice. "I must confess, cleaning what I killed took some getting used to."

Now _that_ just couldn't be true. Gilbert scoffed. "You have never cleaned anything in your life."

The princess looked at him. That was definitely a smirk on her face. "Haven't I?"

"The princ- Elizaveta killed and cleaned our breakfast this morning, amigo," Tony said.

"I don't believe you."

Her smirk just got wider. "I'll prove it to you."

"What?"

"You and I can go hunting for dinner tonight."

Gilbert didn't think, he just responded. "Fine. We will."

"Excellent."  
>"<em>Good<em>."

"_Lovely._" They were interrupted when Tony started laughing.

The topic dwindled away and they walked along in comfortable silence for a long while after that. Tony moved to catch up with Luddy and struck up a conversation with him. Gilbert watched them for a while but didn't have the guts to break it up.

Lunch was quiet. Luddy was barely speaking and when he did it was only to be polite when someone spoke to him first. The princess sat down next to Gilbert, her eyes on Luddy.

"I know you two didn't fight," she said. "What could possibly be bothering him?" And then she looked at him, like he was supposed to have the answer. Even if he did, he wasn't going to tell her. After a while, she turned to look back at Luddy again.

"Well, whatever it is," she said. "I hope you two work it out." She nudged him with her shoulder, hard and playful and _that_ made his brain sputter so that for a moment, he didn't react. "I don't want you to be off your game when we go hunting tonight." He stared at her when she said this but she smiled back at him, sickeningly sweet, like the annoying little priss that she was and got up to walk away. His brain unfroze.

"Worry about your own game!" he called but she just laughed and didn't look back. He stared after her, eyes narrowed. _"I guess we are friends," _she had said.

…

_Hmph._

* * *

><p>Luddy barely talked to him all day.<p>

Gilbert hated it.

* * *

><p>"Well? Are you coming?" The princess was re-lacing her boots. Gilbert's eyes flicked towards his brother one last time. Then he turned away.<p>

"Obviously."

It was late afternoon and they had just finished setting up camp for the night. There wasn't likely to be anything more than small game around right then, but that was fine with Gilbert. He had no idea what the princess thought she was doing, suggesting this outing. It wasn't like she could bring down so much as a chipmunk anyway.

That's why he was so surprised when they started entering the forest proper and her entire manner shifted. She was no longer walking normally—her footsteps became whisper-light and her entire body went on alert. Without even thinking about it, Gilbert mimicked her.

As he had expected, there wasn't much movement from the woodlanders. A squirrel scampered by here and there but every time Gilbert nudged her, the princess scoffed. She wasn't after squirrels.

They continued on. Gilbert was ready to kill the next thing in sight himself if she didn't. He could be a patient hunter when he really had to but he didn't qualify a princess' need to prove herself as "really having to."

Suddenly her hand landed on his chest and he froze. She wasn't looking back at him, but forward rather, into the underbrush a few yards beyond them. A flock of quail was bobbing their way out of the bushes. Gilbert felt the princess' fingers gently tap his chest. He looked down and saw that she was pointing at the ground by his feet. There was nothing there but sticks, brush and a few rocks. Her fingers made a flicking motion towards the quail.

Gilbert understood.

Slowly, slowly, he reached down. Slowly, slowly, the princess' hand stole towards the knife in her belt. Gilbert picked up a rock and hurled it directly into the quails' midst. As they exploded into flight, the princess exploded into movement.

The knife nailed one of the birds in mid-flight. It went down flailing. Quick as a flash, she reached it, grabbed off the ground, and snapped its next.

Gilbert's jaw dropped. As soon as he realized that it was hanging open, he shut it. Good thing too, because the princess turned around just then and saw him staring. She smirked.

"Yes? Can I help you?"

_Do me_, Gilbert thought before he could stop himself. Aloud, he only said "What kind of princess _are _you?"

She just gave him a look of smug satisfaction and walked on past, swinging her prize.

As they were walking back to camp, she waited for him to catch up and fell into step with him. "I keep checking, you know," she said quietly. "To see if my demon is trying to emerge again."

"Is it?"

She shook her head. "I feel very much myself today…" She smiled and her smile was a little sad. After a moment something occurred to her and she brightened. "We are certainly going to eat well tonight!" She swung the bird in front of his face. "You had better thank me for dinner if you want to be able to eat any of it."

He pushed at her. "Get that stupid thing out of my face!" But she just dodged and laughed at him, running on ahead.

She cleaned that bird too. Just sat down and set to work, the minute they got back to camp. _Jerk._

Gilbert watched her, scowling, first with annoyance at having been shown up and then later because he was slowly getting uneasy. Hunting had taken his mind off things but now that he was back, he was again aware of the fact that he didn't know whether he and Luddy were talking or not.

He came to himself with a start, realized that Luddy was walking right towards him and nearly had a heart attack. Luddy sat down beside him and didn't say anything. Gilbert didn't say anything either, just shifted uncomfortably.

"I know that we have not always lived in that swamp," Luddy said finally. "I am not stupid."

"Obviou-"

"Bruder, please. Just let me talk."

Gilbert let him talk.

"I keep seeing these flashes of things I do not understand." Luddy kept his voice low. Neither the princess nor Tony were looking their way. Gilbert had the uncomfortable feeling that they knew what was going on and were trying to give the two of them privacy. "I see places that I am not sure I have ever been and people I cannot remember meeting…" He looked up at Gilbert.

"Tell me… Were we in the northern campaign?"

Gilbert looked back at him. His brain was refusing to work. After a while, Luddy seemed to accept that Gilbert wasn't going to be speaking any time soon. He sighed.

"You cannot protect me forever, Bruder."

"Who says I want to protect you?"

"You do." Luddy looked at him steadily. "You say it every day."

Gilbert breathed just then and realized that he didn't know how long he had been holding his breath. Because Luddy was not stupid. Luddy had never been stupid. Luddy had always let Gilbert get away with not saying what he should have said. Luddy had always heard what Gilbert didn't say.

"I want to know what it is you won't tell me. And… I do not want to have to figure it out on my own."

Gilbert looked at him for a long time without speaking. The look Luddy was giving him right then was the closest he had ever seen his brother to pleading. Something inside him gave.

"Fine."

Luddy looked surprised. "Fine?"

"Fine, we can talk." Gilbert dreaded it even as he said it.

"Dinner's ready!" the princess called. Gilbert wondered if she had been listening, waiting for a chance to butt in.

He decided she had been.

He decided he liked her.

* * *

><p>((Author's Notes: Guys, I would love some feed back on this one. Does it feel bipolar to any of you? One moment, worried about Ludwig, the next teasing Elizaveta? Any complaints? Comments in general? Thanks so much for reading!))<p> 


	9. Chapter 9

Luddy was going to help clean up after dinner, just like he always did, but the princess shooed him away. "You and your brother have something to talk about, don't you?" Gilbert turned to scowl at her, to tell her to mind her own business but he caught Tony's eye instead and saw him mouth the words _Good luck, amigo._

Frigging busybodies.

They went into the woods a ways and found a fallen tree to sit down on. For a moment, neither of them said anything. Finally, Luddy spoke.

"We have not lived in that swamp much longer than three years have we?"

"…No."

"And we come from the north."

"Yeah."

"_Were_ we in the north at the time of the campaign, Bruder?"

"…Yeah."

"Why did we leave?"

"The campaign," Gilbert said and it was the truth. It _was_. It might not have been the whole story but screw it, it was still the truth.

Luddy was looking at him and Gilbert could tell that he knew it wasn't the whole story. He let it go for the moment. "Where are our parents?"

"Dead."

Luddy was quiet. Then he nodded. "I am not surprised."

"What, you remember something?"

"No, that is just it. I cannot remember them at all. When I remember things, many times, you will be there but… there are never grownups with you."

"Keh." A wistful feeling came over Gilbert before he could stop it. Luddy spoke again.

"Did you fight in the campaign, Bruder?"

"Yeah."

For some reason, Luddy gave him a strange look at this answer. "You do not seem very proud of this fact," he said. Gilbert scowled.

"So what?"

Again, Luddy let this slide. He tried what he no doubt thought was a different tack.

"What did I do while you were fighting?"

"You were there."

"What?" Luddy looked astonished. "I… I was with you?"

"Yeah? So?"

"Forgive me, Bruder, but," Luddy seemed to be looking for the right words. "I find it surprising that you would take me to war with you." He paused for a moment before saying "You are very protective of me."

Gilbert was at a loss as to how to answer this. Finally he just snapped, "Why do you _think_ I am so protective of you?" He watched the realization dawn on Luddy's face. Luddy got it. Gilbert could see that.

"Why would you take me with you? I must've been no more than-"

"Nine," Gilbert said roughly. "You were nine."

"Nine…" Luddy turned this over. "Why would you do that?"

"I was stupid, okay?"

"What would I even do on a battlefield?"

"A lot of little kids went," Gilbert said, angrier at the fact itself than at his brother. "They were supposed to be shield bearers and personal servants and stuff like that."

"Oh." Luddy was quiet for another moment. "…There was another boy, wasn't there. In the army with us. One I was friends with."

"Feliciano Vargas." It felt like vinegar on Gilbert's tongue. "His stupid name was Feliciano Vargas."

"Feliciano Vargas…" Luddy nodded slowly. "I think I remember… he always wanted to draw or paint or something…"

"He was completely frigging useless," Gilbert snapped. "And his grandpa was our squad's captain which was awesome because the way he could fight was completely awesome but he was such a _moron_ sometimes-" Gilbert cut himself off and took a deep breath. His hands had balled up into fists. The silence stretched. "Feli was a sweet kid," he said eventually. "There was no place for him on the battlefield. He should never have come."

Neither of them said anything for a long time.

"I think I remember…" Luddy said. "You got mad one day… You were yelling at me for some reason…"

"…Yeah." On the list of things Gilbert would have been happy never to have to remember, this one was pretty high up.

"But I cannot remember why you were yelling…" When Gilbert didn't say anything to this, Luddy looked up and asked "Why _were_ you yelling, Bruder?"

Gilbert gritted his teeth and didn't answer.

"Bruder, you said you would tell me what happened. I do not understand-"

"He_ kissed_ you, okay?"

"What?"

Gilbert looked away. "You heard me."

Silence. Finally, Luddy said, "Many of the things that I remember do not make any sense, but-" Gilbert looked at Luddy again. Luddy was looking up at Gilbert. "He _kissed_ me?"

"His grandpa was there when it happened. I pulled you guys apart and he took Feli and I took you and-" Gilbert's fists had clenched again. He looked down at them. "I was scared, okay? If any of the others had seen you-" Gilbert cut himself off. "It would not have been pretty," he said finally.

"'This is no place for boys who want to kiss other boys.'"

Gilbert stared. Luddy looked up at him. "That is what you said to me, isn't it?"

"…Yeah. That's what I said." Gilbert rubbed his face. "Look, I don't know if you wanted him to kiss you or if you just let him kiss you or whatever. It doesn't matter. If they had found out, you would have wished you were dead."

More silence. When Luddy spoke again, it was so quiet, Gilbert could barely hear it. "Is that why we left the north?"

He laughed. It came out too harsh but he was too tired to care. "I wish."

They sat there for a long time, as the woods got darker and darker.

"…Do you think that I wanted him to kiss me, Bruder?"

Gilbert snapped back to attention. He looked at Luddy.

"What?"

"This is important to you, so why can't I remember? All I remember is that you were yelling at me…"

Gilbert felt himself soften, even if he took care not to show it. "How should I know if you wanted him to kiss you? Figure it out on your own."

Luddy thought this over for a while longer before saying, "Okay." He let the quiet stretch a moment longer. "Why _did_ we leave the north?"

Gilbert didn't answer. He had no idea how to begin to answer.

"Bruder?"

"Shut up. I'm thinking."

Luddy shut up.

How could anyone do something like this? How was he supposed to just tell his little brother what had actually happened? How?

Where to even _begin?_

The most messed up part was that Gilbert couldn't even ask "Do you want the bad news or the really bad news?" because he didn't know which part of it was the worst.

"...What do you even remember?" he asked finally.

"Not a lot."

"You remember any of the fighting?"

"A little, I think."

Gilbert hesitated for another moment and then took the plunge. "We got ambushed. Our squad. We got destroyed." He glanced at Luddy but Luddy was just listening like he didn't remember any of this so he kept going. "It all happened really fast." He scoffed, feeling sick. "He was such a _moron!_ It was so obvious that Feli didn't belong on the battlefield-"

"Something happened to Feliciano?" Luddy asked sharply. Gilbert looked at him.

"You remember something?"

"No, nothing."

"Yeah, well…" Gilbert stared off into the woods for a moment. "Feli would do this thing where he would run and hide as soon as a fight started and then come back as soon as it was over. He was such a pansy." His stomach turned with the memory. "I guess he didn't have time to hide when we got ambushed."

Luddy was watching him. Gilbert spat on the ground. "We would always tell him, 'send the stupid kid home and get another shield bearer,' but the captain would never_ listen_. Feli was the last person who should have gone to war."

"…What happened?"

"…I didn't see it at first. I think one of the enemy soldiers tried to grab him. …You reacted badly."

"Me?"

"Yeah you." Gilbert rubbed the back of his neck. "Look. When you saw the princess turning into a demon… did you… feel anything?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, did it make you remember anything?"

"Why are you asking?"

"Because you should've remembered _something_."

"Something like what?"

"Like the fact that you're a demon."

In the silence that followed, Gilbert could've heard a feather drop. "Because you are," he said lamely. "Just like everyone else in our family."

* * *

><p>The Beilschmidts had been a family of demon vessels for generations by the time Gilbert was born. His birth rocked the boat more greatly than any of his attempts to do so since because he alone, as far back as anyone could remember, had the audacity to be born a normal human being. For years, his family tried everything they could think of to force his demon to show itself, but nothing ever worked. Finally, when he was about five, they took him to a seer, who examined Gilbert for what felt like hours before pronouncing that there was no trace of demon magic to be found in his little body. Then after consulting with his parents for what felt like another few hours, they agreed to have an anti-demon seal placed at his back. A family of demon vessels was a dangerous family to be born into, especially if someone was born ordinary like Gilbert was. The seal would protect him from demon inflicted injuries, making them less extensive than they would be normally and making them heal faster than they otherwise would. That seal had come in handy for Gilbert more than once while his parents still lived. It had never activated itself on Luddy's account though.<p>

If Gilbert Beilschmidt was a flat disappointment to the family, Ludwig Beilschmidt was practically a second Messiah.

"They loved you," Gilbert said. "Just so you know."

* * *

><p>Luddy was quiet after their talk. Gilbert couldn't really blame him. It was a lot to take in. He left the poor kid alone. Tony and the princess smiled at them sympathetically and Gilbert wanted to laugh. They had no idea what they thought they were being sympathetic about. At least they left Luddy alone. The four of them stayed pretty quiet until they went to bed.<p>

It took Luddy a long time to fall asleep.

It took Gilbert even longer.


	10. Chapter 10

"I wish that you would stop hovering, Bruder," Luddy said the next day. "I need to think."

"I am not hovering!"

"I think that you are hovering, amigo," Tony said, passing by him.

"You're hovering," the princess said, also passing him. Gilbert glared after them.

_Kiss-ups._

* * *

><p>"I have been thinking," Luddy said at one point. "I am glad that you have told me these things. However… I have something that I wish to ask you."<p>

"Yeah?"

"When all this is over, I want to go up north. I want to see the place we used to live."

_Screw it_. "Yeah, why not."

"Thank you, Bruder."

Luddy talked to the princess a lot that day. Gilbert wasn't sure whether to be nervous about it or not, but really, he'd basically shot everything else to hell already, so sure, why not let the princess know the family history? Fricking icing on the cake.

He got close enough to hear one of their conversations at one point.

"How do you deal with it?" Luddy was asking. "With knowing that you have hurt people without wanting to hurt them?"

"It's not easy," she said. Her voice was soft. "The best I have been able to do is accept that feeling guilty will not change what I have done. I also have read many books on demons. I wished to gain all the knowledge I could to ensure that it didn't happen again."

"And where you able to prevent it?"

There was a pause.

"The last two were able to escape with their lives," she said. Her voice was a little thick. Embarrassed, Gilbert fell back, out of earshot , and looked about for something else to focus on but not before he noticed Luddy slip his hand into hers.

* * *

><p>Luddy stopped and stared at a rabbit as it ran across their path.<p>

"Feliciano used to draw a lot, didn't he?" he said after it had disappeared.

Gilbert looked at him sharply. "Yeah, why?"

"No reason." Luddy hefted his pack higher up on his shoulders. "We should keep going." And he walked ahead, swinging his deck brush as he went.

* * *

><p>"We appear to be getting low on supplies," the princess commented as they finished up their lunch.<p>

"Do not concern yourself," Tony assured her. "We will be at Lord Edlestein's castle before we grow desperate."

They'd probably be at the castle by tomorrow. Every time they reached the top of a hill, they could see it looming in the distance. The sight of it made Gilbert feel odd. He should feel happy, shouldn't he? Soon he and Luddy could legally go back to their cabin in the swamp and not worry about being bothered ever again. Were they actually going to though?

Probably not.

It wasn't that Gilbert wasn't capable of the amount of denial it would take to pretend that it was going to happen that way. He just didn't know if he wanted things to happen that way anymore.

"Is there a town nearby?" the princess was asking. "Perhaps we could restock for the last leg of our journey."

"Si, there is one nearby. I am thinking we should arrive there early tomorrow." Tony glanced at Luddy. "Does this seem right, Niño?"

"I think so," Luddy said. He stood up. "We should keep going."

"You've barely eaten anything!" Gilbert protested.

"You may finish it if you wish."

Suddenly Gilbert didn't feel hungry anymore either.

* * *

><p>"Gentlemen," the princess announced. "We are going fishing."<p>

They all looked at her.

"What?" Gilbert said finally.

"We have been rather solemn today," she said. "I think we could use a little cheering up."

"I think that is a wonderful idea." Tony said. Gilbert glared at him_. You little kiss-up._

"I don't fish."

"That is true," Luddy agreed. "He doesn't."

"Well it's never too late to learn," she said, cheerfully.

"It is if I don't want to."

"Why ever not?" she asked innocently. "Are you afraid to suck?"

"Hey." He glared down at her. "I wouldn't suck. I would be-"

"-awesome?" She smiled sweetly.

That caught him off guard but he covered it. "Obviously."

"Then prove it."

He glanced at the other two. Luddy just smiled at him as if to say "_you got yourself into this_" and Tony raised his eyebrows. Gilbert looked back down at the princess. She was smirking.

That did it.

"You're on."

He'd show Prissy Princess Lizzie who was boss.

* * *

><p>"You'll forgive me for saying so," she called to him. "But you really suck at this."<p>

"Shut up!" He was soaked, he hadn't caught anything and she was standing there, not a hair out of place, looking pretty as you please and she was _laughing at him_. They were all laughing at him. _Jerks_.

"It takes patience," she admonished, still laughing.

"I don't want to be patient!"

"You were very patient when we went hunting the other day."

"That's different!"

"How so?"

"Hunting is fun. Hunting is awesome. Fishing is for sissies."

She arched an eyebrow at him. "I suppose that means you won't want any of the fish I've caught for dinner then?"

That got him. He scowled at her. She smirked back.

"That's what I thought."

_I hate these people,_ Gilbert thought, only half serious. He watched Luddy place yet another fish on his pile next to hers.

"That's certainly a big one," she said to him. "Did you catch it all by yourself?"

"I did."

"You must be very strong."

"Bruder says I'm very strong for my age."

"Does he?" She glanced at him for a moment before looking back down and Luddy. "Show me your steel then, Ludwig." As she spoke, she flexed her arms to demonstrate and Gilbert stared because the princess was _jacked_.

Luddy flexed his own arms obligingly and _that_ made Gilbert grin because aw yeah, his little brother was doing the family proud with those arms right there.

"What do you think, Gilbert?" she called as the two of them turned towards him. "Whose muscles are bigger?"

Before Gilbert could respond, Tony said, "Elizaveta, if I may say, your arms are amazing." He flexed his own arm and held it beside hers. "Maravilloso."

"Okay Gil," she said again, looking back over at him. "Who has the best muscles?" The three of them stood in a row with her in the middle, all flexing.

They made such a ridiculous sight that he had to laugh. "Kesesesese, you are all sissies," he said even though they clearly, _clearly_ weren't. "I have better muscles than all of you." He flexed to prove his point.

Tony let out a low whistle. Luddy looked up at the two adults and seeing their faces, he grinned. Gilbert thought he looked really proud of his big brother andthat made Gilbert grin too. He had never been that bulky but he was no twig either.

"I must concede defeat, amigo," Tony said laughing. "You are the champion here."

"For now he is," Luddy agreed calmly.

Gilbert stared at him. _Is he talking _smack_? _He traded delighted looks with Tony and the princess.

"You think you're gonna be stronger than me, you little punk?" Gilbert said. He started moving over to him, deliberately casual. Luddy eyed him warily. "You think you're gonna be stronger than your bruder?"

"I think so."

"Oh, yeah? Oh, yeah?" Before Luddy could react, Gilbert had scooped him up and tossed him, kicking and squirming, into the water.

Luddy came up sputtering. "Bruder!"

Gilbert laughed at him. Luddy _might_ get stronger one day but Gilbert was still going to be the big brother.

* * *

><p>They were cleaning the fish for dinner. Tony had offered to help Luddy so the two of them were paired up, leaving Gilbert with the princess. Tony could make Luddy smile so Gilbert had resisted the urge to make a fuss, settling instead for glancing over at them every five seconds.<p>

"Niño, if I may say so... you and your brother are two of the bravest people I have ever met."

Luddy stared at Tony. Gilbert started at both of them.

"T-thank you…" Luddy said, almost too quietly for Gilbert to hear. "I appreciate you saying that."

"I am saying what I think," Tony said firmly. Luddy was silent. "Come," Tony said. "I will teach you another song."

Gilbert turned away and saw the princess looking at him.

"What you've done for him is amazing," she said.

"What are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

When he didn't say anything, she just smiled and said, "How big of a piece of fish would you like?"

* * *

><p>After dinner, she asked Tony to help her practice sword fighting again.<p>

"Are you sure about this?" Tony sounded hesitant. "It did not end so well for us last time."

"I'm sure," she said firmly. "This time, things will be different."

"Bruder…" Luddy said, watching them. "Did you ever try to teach me to fight with a sword?"

"You had formal training," Gilbert said. "Our parents raised us that way."

"What about demon training?" Luddy asked quietly. "Did we receive that?"

"You did," Gilbert said.

"Then… Did they teach you nothing?" Luddy look up at him incredulously.

"…They taught me how to kill them."

They were quiet for a moment, watching Tony lecture the princess on footwork.

"Could you find someone to teach me again?" Luddy asked eventually.

"You always had a handle on that stuff," Gilbert said. "You were a genius."

"Nevertheless I would like to learn again."

"…Okay."

"Yes?"

"We can find someone."

"Thank you, Bruder."

"You swing your sword too wide, Elizaveta," Tony called. "You are giving me the time to block you. You must swing like this, see?" He demonstrated.

"I really must request formal lessons when I arrive at the palace," she said, mimicking his motion.

"Ah…" Tony said uncertainly.

"What?"

"I am perhaps giving hasty judgement," Tony said. "But Lord Edelstein does not seem like the type of man to enjoy sword play."

"No? Then what kind of man does he seem to you?"

"He seemed to me, very…" Tony glanced at Gilbert but if he thought Gilbert was going to help him sugar coat Lord Edelstein's suckishness for her, he was wrong. "particular," Tony settled for finally. "He seemed to me a man who knows what he likes."

"Like Gilbert?" she glanced at him teasingly. Gilbert made a face at her.

Tony snorted. "No, he is not so much like Gilbert, Your Majesty. I do not think he is the type of man who wishes to hold the sword."

She smiled. "Well, perhaps he will be content to watch then."

Gilbert scoffed.

"…Perhaps," Tony agreed. "Like this," he said, moving his stick again. "Your movements, they must be controlled, si?

* * *

><p>"I suppose that the northern campaign must be the reason we have so many nightmares," Luddy said as he laid out his bedroll for the night.<p>

"I guess." Not one of Gilbert's favorite topics.

"I once had a nightmare that I was trapped in the body of my mother," Tony volunteered. Gilbert wanted to hit him for a moment because that is the exact opposite of the kind of nightmares he and Luddy got but then he actually looked at Tony.

_Tony gets it_, he realized. Then he felt like an idiot because Tony had always got it. '"Prissy Princess Lizzie" too.

"Really?" Luddy sounded like he doesn't know whether to believe Tony or not.

"Si!" Tony said cheerfully. "I must tell you Niño, I have had many nightmares in my life but that one, it was terrifying. The whole time I was afraid to remove my clothes because I did not want to see myself naked."

Luddy looked at him strangely for a moment but then he gave a little huff of a laugh and smiled. Tony smiled back at him.

"And then there was this other dream," Tony continued as Luddy crawled under the blanket. "That my Lovino and my mother, they were chasing me around with rolling pins."

"You seem to have a lot of dreams about your mother," Luddy said.

"My mother is a scary lady, Niño," Tony said. "I hope that you will meet her someday."

"…I would like that," Luddy said.

"I think to warn you though. Come hungry. You cannot eat enough to satisfy my mother."

"That does not sound so scary.

"You say that now," Tony said. "But wait until you are face with your fifth plate of pulpo a la gallega."

"She must be a generous woman." Luddy sounded sleepy.

"Oh si, Niño. You will not find a woman more generous than my mother. You know, she is something of a local legend. Because she married my father, the two towns between their estates grew into one. She knows everything that goes on in that place."

Luddy hummed sleepily.

"Niño, if you were to come to her home, she would not let you leave until you had put on considerable weight. She would make Lovino wait on you hand and foot. Of course, this would not be a good thing because Lovino's service is… Well, I am thinking you could live without it. I keep saying to her to let him work in the fields. He knows how to garden, Lovino. I wish that you could see what he did for the garden at my home, Niño. Our tomato plants, they are the finest in the countryside."

There was no response. Tony stopped looked to where Luddy lying on his bedroll, asleep. Smiling, he moved to sit on the opposite side of the fire, beside Lizzie.

"Your brother is going to be very handsome when he gets older," she commented softly.

"Obviously. It runs in the family."

"You will have to be careful, amigo, if you don't want all the women chasing after him."

"He is totally going to have women chasing after him," Gilbert said. "I'm gonna teach him how to pick up chicks-_what?_" because she had snorted.

"Nothing."

"Lovino was always interested in the ladies," Tony offered. "Whenever we would pass by a pretty girl in the street, he would call to her for a kiss." Tony smiled. "One of my friends, she tried to kiss him one time, just on the cheek. I tell you, amigos, I have never seen anyone get that red."

"I never kissed anyone," Lizzie admitted. "When I was little I was convinced that I was going to be a man like my father when I grew up. All the boys were afraid of me because I could beat them up." She smiled with the memory of it. "I was the worst little princess ever."

"That sounds awesome," Gilbert said because the mental image of little Princess Lizzie beating up all the little sissies in the courtyard made him smug. The world could keep its dainty, quiet princesses. _Their _princess was boss.

She looked at him with a little huff of laughter and said "I don't think my mother thought it was that awesome. I got into a great deal of trouble when I was young."

"Young children are always quite the handful," Tony assured her. "That's what makes them interesting."

"Luddy's not," Gilbert objected. "He's always doing what he's told."

"Forgive me amigo," Tony said. "But your brother is not always the child in your relationship."

"Hey!" Just because it was true, didn't mean Gilbert wasn't going to take offense over it. "It's hard raising a kid okay? I am an awesome big brother."

"I meant no disrespect," Tony soothed. "I know you are."

Uncomfortable with how sincere Tony sounded, Gilbert looked away.

"I suppose every child is different," Lizzie said. "Some grow up faster than others, don't they? Master Ludwig is certainly very mature for his age."

"Yeah he is," Gilbert groused. "This one time, I tried to tell the little brat where babies come from and he just fricking _looked_ at me and went 'I already know that, Bruder.'"

"Really?" Lizzie raises her eyebrows. "How old was he at this time?"

"Nine."

"That seems rather young, amigo."

"Right?" Gilbert scowled. "So I'm like 'who told you?' and he goes 'no one. If dogs and horses make their babies the same way, I do not think that humans get their babies from storks.'"

"You told him babies come from storks?"

He scowled at her. "It was what my grandpa told me, okay? Don't diss my parenting skills."

She raised her hands in mock surrender. "My apologies, Gilbert."

They fell into easy silence for a moment until Tony said "Do you want me to take your shift of the watch, amigo?"

"Why would I need you to take my watch?"

Tony smiled. "I thought I would ask. Good night."

"Good night Antonio."

Gilbert watched Tony leave before realizing that Lizzie was looking at him. "What?"

"Do you mind if I sit up with you? I am not tired just yet."

"Why should I care? Do what you want."

She smiled. "Then I will sit up with you."

Gilbert wasn't sure what to do with the way that sentence made him feel, so he ignored it.

They resettled on top of a large rock a few yards away because Gilbert believed in keeping watch from a higher vantage point. The glow from the fire cast a ring of light on the surrounding area. Gilbert could see Luddy, still sleeping peacefully.

"I suppose we'll be back at the castle soon," Lizzie said, settling herself in.

"I guess."

They were both quiet for a moment, looking off towards the horizon. Then Lizzie said; "What is Lord Edelstein like?"

That caught Gilbert off guard. She was seemed to do that a lot.

"Why would you want to know about _that_ guy?"

"Well, I have already heard Antonio's opinion of him," she said reasonably. "I would like to hear yours."

"He's a tool."

"You think that everyone's a tool," she pointed out.

"Because most people _are_."

"Why is Lord Edelstein a tool? Is he like you?"

He glared at her. "He is nothing like me!"

"That's what Antonio said too…" she said to herself. He didn't know how to react to that because she sounded almost …sad. What did she have to be _sad_ about? That Lord Edelstein wasn't like him? Why?

He must've imagined it.

"How far is your swamp from the castle?"

"I dunno. We walked there in two days last time."

"It must be fairly close then."

"Yeah. Why?"

"I was thinking I might come visit you and Ludwig when I have time." Through the faint light, she smiled at him. "You and I could go hunting together."

"Yeah… we could…" He kind of liked that idea. Then something occurred to him and he scowled. "Better not bring along your boyfriend though."

"My boyfriend?" she sounded surprised.

"Lord Edelstein."

"Oh." There was a pause. He looked over at her. "Well, he's not my boyfriend yet," she said and it sounded like she was talking to herself again. "I haven't even met him, after all."

"Yeah, why do you_ think_ he wanted to get you out of that castle? He wants to put a ring on it."

She snorted. "You certainly have a blunt way of putting things."

"It's _true_," he said defensively.

"Well, that may be his intention but he hasn't even met me yet. What if he decides I'm not his type?"

"Then he's dumb."

"Now this is a development," she said, smiling. "Gilbert Beilschmidt, was that a _compliment_?"

_Crap._ "Maybe." Then: "No." Then he was lost because why had he said that? _Was_ Lord Edelstein dumb if he didn't like Lizzie?

…Well, yeah. Obviously. Why wouldn't anyone like Lizzie? Lizzie was sort of awesome.

He realized that it was silent. He didn't know what to do or say but then Lizzie said, out of nowhere

"You know, I've felt very much myself these past few days. My demon has been very quiet." Before Gilbert could say anything to that she said "I can still feel it in there, you know." After another pause, she added "I hope Lord Edelstein likes me. They told me that whoever got me out of the castle could break the spell."

_But _I'm_ the one who got you out of that castle,_ he wanted to say but didn't because he'd didn't know where that would put them. Obviously it was true, but did he want to kiss her? Sure, she was hot but "I think you're hot" probably didn't break spells. And sure, he liked her but so did Tony.

Wait, did Tony want to kiss Lizzie?

…

Tony wasn't allowed to kiss Lizzie.

He realized that he'd probably been supposed to respond to what she'd said but he hadn't. Eventually she just smiled. "Well, I suppose we'll just have to see."

* * *

><p>((Author's Note: Hi guys! We're coming down the homestretch now, so I'd really love to hear your opinion of this chapter. I'm trying to transition to something a little more relaxed. Now that Gilbert's issues are more out in the open, I feel like I can focus on the friendshipsrelationships more easily but the whole time I was writing this, I was worried that I was moving too fast or laying it on too thick. I know I startled some of you with the last chapter hopefully I didn't scare you guys off. ))


	11. Chapter 11

The next day, Luddy said "You and Princess Elizaveta were up late talking weren't you?"

"Yeah, so?"

"You and her seem to be getting along much better now." Was the little jerk _smiling_ at him?

This was not happening.

"What's your point?"

"Nothing." When Gilbert squinted at him suspiciously, Luddy added, "I'm glad that you and she are friends, Bruder."

_Hmph._

* * *

><p>"Why are there houses everywhere?" Gilbert demanded, glaring around the busy marketplace in disgust. "There is nowhere good to hunt."<p>

"Because this is a town." Lizzie smiled at him sweetly. He narrowed his eyes at her.

"Bruder, pick out something that you would like. I will start negotiations once we have decided what we want."

"Wait, what?" Gilbert looked at Luddy in surprise.

"This will be our last meal on the road all together," Luddy said patiently. "We must make it special."

"I know _that_," Gilbert said because he had heard it when Tony first said it. "What is the other thing you were talking about? Negotiations?"

"Have you never heard of haggling?"

"Well yeah… What do _you _know about haggling?"

"If I am not mistaken… I always used to haggle in the town market up north."

Gilbert stared at him. He could feel a smile tugging at one corner of his mouth. "You remember that?"

"Yes, Bruder."

"…Keh." Gilbert slung an arm over his brother's shoulders. "Come on," he said, ruffling Luddy's hair harder than necessary. "Let's go buy you something totally unhealthy."

Luddy was contentedly munching a bagful of belish (bought on Lizzie's recommendation; Luddy was sharing with her) when Tony returned.

"Amigos, I have been able to find everything I think I will be needing. If we can talk the prices down, I think we will have us a real feast tonight!"

Gilbert and Luddy looked at each other.

"Well? You think you can still haggle like you used to?" Gilbert asked.

Luddy grinned. "There is one way to find out."

* * *

><p>"Five coins," the man at the produce stand.<p>

"I can give you three," Luddy said.

"Five coins," the man said stubbornly.

"Herr, I only have three here," Luddy repeated and his eyes went wide and soft. It made the produce man hesitate and it was all Gilbert could do not to snicker because that man was done, he was just fricking _done._ There wasn't a person alive who could stand up to Luddy's puppy face when he pulled it out. (He didn't have to use it on Gilbert but then Gilbert was so whipped that he usually caved way before the puppy face became necessary.)

"Does that face always work for him?" Lizzie asked from where they were watching from a few booths away. She was holding Luddy's bag of belish. Gilbert grabbed one.

"Of course it does. My mom always said that people are suckers for the blue Beilschmidt eyes." That was about as close to affectionate as his mom ever got.

"Hmm." Lizzie looked between him and Luddy thoughtfully. "I must say I prefer warmer colors myself."

"What? Why?"

She smiled at him and fished another belish out of the bag. "No reason."

* * *

><p>"Ludwig, you are amazing," Lizzie said, two hours later as they made their way along, their arms full of purchases. Luddy smiled, clearly pleased.<p>

"Hey, what do you say, you little punk?" Gilbert said.

"Thank you, Miss Elizaveta."

"We will have ourselves a real feast tonight!" Tony crowed, peering into his own bags.

"Straight up-Hey! Watch where you're going!" Gilbert snapped as he narrowly avoided being run over by a reckless carriage driver.  
>"You have dropped something, amigo." Tony indicated to where a head of celery had fallen out of Gilbert's bag into the street.<p>

"Oh for-" Without thinking, Gilbert stepped out to grab it.

"Watch out!" At the sound of his brother's voice, Gilbert looked up to see another carriage barrelling towards him. The cab driver pulled on the reigns- the horse turned too sharply-

_It's going to tip._

Gilbert threw an arm up to protect his head and waited for the impact.

It never came. There was only the feeling of someone's legs pressing into him.

Gilbert looked up and saw Lizzie standing between him and the cart, bracing it. She looked back at him and showed her teeth.

They were sharp.

Her arms had turned grey and scaly and their claws were digging into the side of the carriage.

"Lizzie?" Where was his sword, wherewashisswordwhere-

But she let out a deep breath and slowly lowered her hands down to her sides and he saw that they were smooth and human again. Slowly he got to his feet. A crowd was gathering.

"How did you do that?" he breathed.

She tried to take a step but faltered and he grabbed her arm.

"Gilbert…" she said with a weak smile. "I think I'm going to be sick."

* * *

><p>"Really, it is most unfortunate that you should take ill so suddenly," Tony said as he spooned a second helping of stew into Lizzie's bowl. She was currently lying on her bedroll and as he passed it to her, she pushed herself upright to accept it. "Especially when we are so close to the castle."<p>

"Should I have let him be crushed then?" Lizzie asked.

"No, no, of course not. It is only unfortunate, that is all." Tony smiled. "Lord Edelstein will probably think we have pushed you too hard."

"Well, Gil's been trying," Lizzie said with a weak laugh.

"Hey, maybe if you weren't so prissy I wouldn't push you so hard."

"Maybe I'll just let the cart crush you next time."

That shut him up for a moment. "…How did you do that anyway?" he asked eventually.

"I don't know. It just …happened."

"Well…thanks."

She looked surprised for a moment but smiled. "Who's prissy now?"

"Shut up, Lizzie."

Tony was still laughing at them when Luddy, who had gone off to get extra firewood, returned surrounded by an escort of knights on horseback. Trundling behind them was an expensive looking carriage. The door to the carriage was opened by an attendant and Lord Edelstein himself stepped out.

"Her Royal Highness, Princess Elizaveta Hedervary, I presume." Lord Edelstein bowed low over Lizzie's hand. Gilbert scowled. When had she stood up? _Why _had she stood up? This guy wasn't that special. Besides. She was sick. He noted with irritation that Tony was standing too.

"I am Lord Roderich Edelstein," that loser continued, oblivious to Gilbert's thoughts. He straightened up and glared over at Gilbert. "It certainly took you long enough."

"You could've gotten her yourself if you wanted her so bad," Gilbert shot back.

"Bruder!"

"Please, let us not fight," Tony said. "El- Your Highness, I am sure that you and Lord Edelstein have much to talk about."

"Yes. We do." Lord Edelstein motioned to his carriage. "Princess, if you would ride with me…" He offered a hand to help her up and Gilbert was gratified when she climbed in by herself.

Lord Edelstein looked bemused but he said, "The rest of you will accompany me back to the castle as well. There I will give you your rewards." He snapped his fingers and a knight came forward, leading a horse and a pony, both without riders.

"Mr. Fernandez, your horse. Master Beilschmidt, you may have the pony."

"Hey. Jerkwad," Gilbert said as Lord Edelstein was about to climb back into his carriage. "Where's _my _horse?"

Lord Edelstein gave him a revolting smile. "Well, perhaps Mr. Fernandez will allow you to ride behind him."

Gilbert's cursing was drowned out by the sound of the slamming carriage door.

* * *

><p>"Here are your deeds, as we agreed," Lord Edelstein said pompously as his attendant handed them to Luddy. Gilbert's mood had only worsened on the ride back and his thighs were killing him. He had refused to put his arms around Tony's waist and had thus been forced to grip with his knees the whole way back. To make matters even suckier, they hadn't even seen Lizzie since they'd got there because the minute they arrived, she was whisked off to her private chambers and Gilbert had heard Lord Edelstein spouting some crap about how the swaying of the carriage had made her sick. Gilbert had wanted to punch him.<p>

_Can't you see she's not that fricking_ weak_?_ he'd wanted to say. _She's not weak at all. She's a billion times tougher than you, you stupid, useless fop._

Luddy was watching him carefully which meant Gilbert should probably try to rein it in but he didn't think that was gonna be possible. It didn't matter. Lord Edelstein had moved on anyways.

"Mr. Fernandez, I must go and attend the princess. However if you were to head down to the kitchens, I believe you might find something of interest to you."

"Your Excellency," Tony said with a bow as Lord Edelstein flounced out of the room. He turned and shrugged at Gilbert and Luddy. "Shall we, amigos?"

The kitchen was hot and bustling.

"How are we supposed to find anything in this place?" Gilbert said, looking around. "Hey!" he snapped because Tony was inspecting a sauce boiling in a nearby pot.

"What kind of spices did you put in this?" he was asking the nearby cook.

"I don't understand," Luddy said. "What could there possibly be of interest down here?"

There was a wild scream behind them and Gilbert turned just in time to see a small, dark-haired figure cannonball into Tony. Tony seemed to anticipate that because he used the momentum to pick up the small boy—because it was a boy—and spin him around before pulling him into a hug. For a moment everything was perfectly cliché and happy and then the boy began to beat at Tony with his fist.

"You stupid! stupid! stupid! stupid!" and every word was punctuated with a hit "jerk!"

Tony caught the boy's fist and laughed, too happy to care. "Amigos," he said, turning to them. "This is Lovino-" He stopped short. "Niño?" Gilbert turned around to look at Luddy and found that he hadn't moved an inch but was just standing there, face blank, staring straight ahead.

He was crying.

Gilbert was at his side in an instant. Luddy held out his arms like he wanted to be picked up, something he hadn't done in years and Gilbert scooped him up.

"Hey. Breathe. Breathe," Gilbert said because he wasn't.

"I remember," Gilbert heard him whisper. He was trembling. "_I remember, Bruder_."

"You remember?" Gilbert started rubbing him on the back. It had been almost a year since the last time Luddy had got like this.

People were staring. Gilbert glared at them.

"There were soldiers," Luddy was having trouble breathing. "Feli was screaming and—I—"

"Hey. Hey. You're okay. You're okay."

"I just wanted to help him, Bruder."

"I know you did. I know." Luddy didn't say anything so Gilbert said, "Breathe with me," and he did.

* * *

><p>"Tell me Lovino, how long have you been at the castle?" Gilbert heard Tony say. They were being escorted up to the quarters Lord Edelstein had prepared for them. Lovino was riding on Tony's shoulders. Gilbert was still carrying Luddy. Luddy's face was buried in his neck and Lovino kept glancing over at him. Every time he did, Gilbert would glare and Lovino would turn away again. Served him right too. Lovino had that "<em>what a weirdo<em>" look on his face and he was just lucky Gilbert didn't scrub it off for him.

"A coupla days. These jerks came and dragged me away from the other jerks I was living with and brought me here to this stupid castle and you didn't come for me-"

"But I've come for you now, si?" Tony interrupted gently.

"I guess."

Gilbert scoffed. At least the kid knew a stupid castle when he saw one.

* * *

><p>He tucked Luddy into bed right away when they got into the room. Luddy buried his head under the pillow. One hand clutched Gilbert's sleeve when he tried to move away.<p>

"Stay. Please."

"Hey," Gilbert said softly. "I'll stay. Of course I will stay."

Gilbert climbed into the bed and let his little brother curl into his side and thought about how life really sucked sometimes.

As he played with his brother's hair, he wondered if, in some ritzy corner of the castle, Lizzie was doing any better than they were.

* * *

><p>Sometime later, there was a knock on the door. A serving girl stood there.<p>

"The kitchens wish to know if there is anything you'd like to eat before you go to bed tonight," she said politely.

Gilbert glanced over his shoulder to where Luddy had sat up in bed.

"I am hungry, Bruder," he confirmed.

Gilbert turned back to the messenger girl. "Potatoes and wurst," he said.

"'Please,' Bruder."

"…Please."

"Bruder…." Luddy said thoughtfully as they ate. "What do you suppose it would be like to marry a princess?"

Gilbert looked at him oddly. "Why?"

"I am curious."

Well, if it took his mind off things… "It'd probably suck," Gilbert said. He thought about all the pomp and frills and duties and balls and crap. "Yeah. It would definitely suck."

"What about Miss Elizaveta?"

"What _about_ her?"

"Would it suck to marry her?"

Gilbert thought about it. Lizzie didn't seem like the type to throw a lot of balls, that was for sure. And how hard could it be to run a kingdom? Just sign a few papers and kiss a few babies and sit for a few portraits. After that there would probably be time for them to go hunting together. He could help her with her sword fighting… And then later… after everyone else had gone to bed…

Gilbert felt a smile pull at one corner of his mouth. _Keh._ Honestly, that sounded kind of nice.

"Bruder?" Oh yeah, Luddy was still expecting an answer.

"I guess it wouldn't totally suck," he said, grabbing another sausage from the plate.

"Then… you object to her marrying Lord Edelstein?"

"Well _yeah_, I object. Not like I can stop it though."

"Why do you not talk to her about it?"

"Why would she listen to me?"

"She likes you, Bruder. I am sure she would consider what you had to say."

"What is with you? You can't just tell someone not to get married."

"You have never hesitated to state your opinion before," Luddy pointed out. "No matter how inappropriate the circumstances."

"Yeah, well. This is different."

"Why is it different?"

"It just is, okay?" What if she didn't listen to him? Lizzie picking Lord Edelstein over him would definitely suck.

"Bruder, I think that is you have any serious reservations about Miss Elizaveta marrying Lord Edelstein, you should tell them to her."

"Whatever." Gilbert's mood was rapidly worsening. His little brother had had another attack and the coolest girl he'd ever met was getting swept off to marry the biggest tool on the planet. This was the opposite of awesome. "Finish your food. We're going to sleep."

* * *

><p>Gilbert couldn't sleep.<p>

Luddy was sleeping peacefully next to him, which was nice, but Lizzie was still set to marry Lord Edelstein.

_Get a grip, you pansy! This shouldn't bother you!_

No, wait, of course it should bother him. He went and saved a princess from a castle but had been too busy worrying about his brother to pay attention to her and now that he'd finally got the time to notice how cool she was, she was going off to marry someone else. The whole thing was messed up.

_There is no justice in this world._

After tossing and turning for a while longer, he thought, _screw it_.

"Hey. Luddy." Deep breath. "Wake up."

"…Bruder…? What's wrong?"

"You really think Lizzie would listen to me?"

Luddy sat up. In the darkness, Gilbert could see him turn to look at Gilbert. "Are you saying that you _are_ going to talk to her?"

"Maybe."

"Bruder—"

"Don't get your hopes up, okay? It's not like I can stop her if she really wants to marry that loser."

"While I agree that marriage is Lord Edelstein's intention but Miss Elizaveta may not even want to marry him." When Gilbert didn't say anything to this, he said, "Why should she not consider you, Bruder? Even you know her better than Lord Edelstein."

"Yeah, but he's a _lord_. He's rich."

"Miss Elizaveta is a princess," Luddy said reasonably. "She is rich enough for ten lords." When Gilbert didn't say anything to that, Luddy said "It would surprise me very much if Miss Elizaveta would agree to marry Lord Edelstein." And when Gilbert didn't say anything to _that_, he said "You are not _scared_, are you?"

"FINE. I'll go talk to her in the morning."

"As you wish, Bruder."

Luddy's breathing was just growing even again when there was a knock on their bedroom door.

* * *

><p>((Author's Note: Thanks to the people who left those really kind reviews on the last chapter! I hope to have the final chapter and epilogue up soon.))<p> 


	12. Chapter 12

"Lizzie?" Gilbert felt his gut lurch.

In the dim light, Princess Lizzie Hedervary smiled weakly at him. She was sweating. "I don't suppose I could come in?"

"Yeah… yeah…" He moved aside stupidly. "Come in."

"Hello, Ludwig," she said.

"Miss Elizaveta! Are you alright? What are you doing here?"

"May I sit down?"

"Of course, please." Hastily, Luddy scrambled to make room for her on the bed. Lizzie let out a small huff of laughter as she sat down.

"This whole situation is somewhat scandalous, I suppose," she said. Gilbert lit a candle as she spoke. "Society will just have to excuse me. There's no help for it."

"How did you find us?"

"I asked directions from the maid." Lizzie closed her eyes, smiling. Her fingers clenched the fabric of her night robe. "The whole castle should be buzzing with that bit of gossip by morning."

"Miss Elizaveta, I think that you should lie down," Luddy said. "Please, you do not look well."

"Don't I? Funny," Lizzie said, leaning against the bedpost for support. "I feel better than I have felt in several hours." She sat quietly with her eyes closed for a moment before opening them to smile at Gilbert. "By the way, Gil… I think it would be quite impossible for me to marry Lord Edelstein."

"What are you _talking_ about?" Gilbert asked. This information did not make him feel hopeful because that would be dumb. "Why not?"

"Please, don't misunderstand," she said. "Lord Edelstein comes from a fine family and he has been very generous to me but… we had not been on the road an hour before I realized that I could never marry him."

"Why not?" Luddy asked because Gilbert didn't trust himself to speak.

"If I had been a normal girl, maybe it would have been possible. I might have even felt it was my duty. But I am not normal. I am cursed. When I was with him… I was acting like a princess again. Please, don't misunderstand," she hastened to add. "I _am_ a princess and I do not regret that fact but…" She hesitated. "I was not myself when I was with Lord Edelstein. I do not believe that I could ever really be myself with him if I wanted to make him a suitable wife." She was looking just at Gilbert now. "I had felt better at dinner with the three of you, but… by the time we had been travelling two hours, I felt worse. I felt that my control on myself was slipping. It was an awful feeling, Gil. I had made so much progress but in a few hours, it all felt gone…

"At first, I tried to tell myself that it was just a new situation and I simply needed to find my footing and readjust." She stopped talking and took several deep breaths. "By the time we reached the castle, I was feverish. Lord Edelstein was kind enough to call the court doctor and assign me a nurse but… I knew they wouldn't be able to do anything for me." She shrugged. "So I decided to come find you.

"It was quite rude of me, of course, but it was necessary. To stay there, to allow my demon to turn itself loose in the castle…It would simply not do." She smiled. "It's funny though… I felt better the moment I decided to come find you."

Gilbert was having a hard time wrapping his head around all this. "Why were you coming to find us?"

"Because if I am going to be out in the world while my spell is unbroken, I really ought to be with someone who is a match for my demon."

Gilbert stared at her for a moment. Then he smiled in spite of himself. "Keh," he muttered, trying to hide how pleased he felt.

"What is it?"

"Bruder was going to tell you that he objected to your engagement," Luddy informed her. _Tattletale._ "Now, it seems he does not have to."

"Oh really?" Lizzie looked at him expectantly. "On what grounds did you object, Mr. Beilschmidt?"

"Look," he said finally because his brain was sputtering. "You're way too awesome to marry a tool like that so I was going to tell you not to."

"My, my…" she gave a weak laugh. "Two compliments in as many days. Coming from you, that's practically a courtship."

"Yeah… well." His face felt hot. "Don't get used to it."

If Luddy's face turned disappointed when he said that, he ignored it.

"What will you do now, Miss Elizaveta?" Luddy asked turning from Gilbert towards her.

"Well, if the two of you have no objections, I would like to spend the night here. In the morning, I will go straight to Lord Edelstein and explain the whole situation to him."

"Are you so sure that is a good idea?" Luddy asked. "What if he reacts badly?"

"I wouldn't worry too much," she said with a weak laugh. "He's only a lord, after all. I outrank him."

"We're more than a match for his prissy guards anyway," Gilbert said.

"All that confidence is going to get you into trouble someday," she said.

"I keep telling him this," Luddy said, sliding off the bed. "He has not listened so far." Gilbert stuck out his tongue at him. "Please, Miss Elizaveta, make yourself comfortable."

"Oh no, I couldn't take your bed Ludwig," she protested. "If you give me a pillow, I'll sleep on the floor."

"That would be completely unacceptable," Luddy said firmly. "You are a princess and what is more you are clearly unwell. Please," he said, motioning to the bed. "Rest."

She looked at him for a moment before smiling. "Thank you."

Gilbert helped Luddy pull the quilt off the bed, leaving the blanket and sheets for Lizzie. She tossed them two of the pillows and they bedded down, the edges of the quilt pulled up over them like a burrito. Luddy was looking at him significantly. Gilbert was in the middle of making a "_what?"_ face at him when Lizzie blew out the candle. After that he couldn't see anything anymore but he knew that same stupid look was still on Luddy's face. He scowled and turned over.

Eventually, he heard Luddy's breathing deepen and knew his little brother had fallen asleep. Gilbert however, still felt wide awake. He listened for Lizzie's breathing but couldn't hear it.

"Hey," he said quietly.

For a moment, no one answered. Then "Yes?"

"So… If you're not going to marry that loser… what are you gonna do?"

"…I'm not sure," she said. "I suppose I will go back to my parents' kingdom."

"Even with your curse?"

"I was hoping you would come with me," she said. "As a precaution."

Huh. He felt a smile at the corners of his mouth.

"Luddy wants to go up north," he said. In the darkness, he heard Luddy stir at the sound of his name. They both waited for a moment for him to settle again. "He wants to see where we used to live."

"I see… Of course, you would be perfectly free to do as you wished after returning me to my kingdom."

"But what're you going to do?"

"I suppose I will just have to find someone else to guard me until my curse can be broken."

"But wasn't the person who got you out of that castle supposed to do it?" he asked. His stomach felt uneasy.

"Well things don't seem to be working out that way, do they? I have already decided that a marriage to Lord Edelstein would be wholly unsuitable."

"_He_ didn't get you out of that castle."

"What are you suggesting?" she said lightly. "Your brother is far too young."

"I am not talking about _him_."

"Then who are you talking about?" she said innocently.

He stayed silent.

"I am only interested in being friends with Antonio, Gil."

"I wasn't talking about him either." His voice trailed into a mumble as he said it.

"Sorry, what was that?" He heard her shift in the bed. He thought she might've been sitting up.

"I said I wasn't talking about him." There was an awful moment of silence. "…I was talking about me."

There was a _horrible_ moment of silence.

"Well, I suppose that wouldn't be too bad," she said. There was a smile in her voice.

"Wait, what?"

"You heard me."

_Is she _laughing_ at me?_ He sat up too.

"Lizzie, if you are mocking me I _swear_-"

"I'm not," she said quickly. "Gil, I'm not. I promise."

"Oh."

No one said anything for a moment. He heard Lizzie flop back onto the bed. She let out a sigh. She actually sounded kind of… relieved.

"The truth is…" she said softly. "I wondered if you'd ever ask."

"…Really?"

There was a little huff of laughter. "Well, two days ago, you didn't exactly have time for romance did you?

Huh. Still… "I do _now_..." he said, not sounding like a bratty child at all.

"Why don't we sleep on it. I'll talk to Lord Edelstein in the morning and then after that, you and I can decide what we're going to do."

"Fine, good night." He felt irritable. Was she really taking this lightly after all?

"Good night," she said. She sounded surprised.

There was a moment of awkward silence before she said "I would love to court you, Gil."

"…Keh." But he felt better.

It was the sound of movement that woke him in the morning. He opened his eyes, blinking against the light, and saw Lizzie in front of the mirror, attempting to tidy her hair. A maid was helping her comb it. Luddy was seated on a chair nearby, combing his hair with his fingers.

"Lizzie… what…" _When did she put on day clothes?_

"Lord Edelstein requests an audience with me," she said.

"That tool," he muttered, sitting up all the way.

"Don't speak that way, Bruder," Luddy said. "Especially about a man who has housed us when he did not have to."

Gilbert lapsed into sulky, compliant silence and settled instead for watching the maid brush Lizzie's hair. It was actually kind of pretty hair. As a rule, he didn't see what the big fuss about hair was, but Lizzie's was kind of nice.

_She looks much healthier today too…_

Eventually, she stood up. "That will do," she told the maid. "Please leave us." The girl curtsied and backed out of the room. Lizzie then turned to Luddy.

"Ludwig could you give your brother and I a moment of privacy?" she asked.

Luddy had a look of understanding on his face. "Certainly." He slid off the bed and followed the maid out.

Lizzie turned to him. His stomach turned.

"What?"

"Did you mean what you said?" she asked. "Do you want to court me?"

"Most people just call it dating…"

"Do you though?"

"Keh… I guess it wouldn't be so bad." He raised his eyebrows at her.

She grinned back at him. "We can take it slow. If you're scared."

"I'm not scared. What would I have to be scared of?"

"Relationships."

"I am not scared of relationships."

"Indeed?" She took a step towards him challengingly. "Prove that."

They stared at each other for a moment.

Lizzie's eyes flicked down ever so slightly (_she's looking at my mouth_) and the next thing Gilbert knew, he'd leaned in and he was kissing her. He was kissing him and she was kissing himback and someone's tongue was in someone else's mouth and he didn't care what she might later claim; he did not initiate that. They pulled back to breathe which was good because Lizzie was definitely short on air when she said "You make a convincing case, Mr. Beilschmidt.'" But her eyes were sparkling.

"Oh, screw you." Gilbert didn't sound too steady himself. He kissed her again.

When she finally stepped away again, she was still smiling.

"Come with me," she said. "We must speak to Lord Edelstein right away."

"That cockblock," Gilbert muttered as he followed her and she heard him and laughed, so Gilbert decided that he wasn't really that annoyed. Not even Lord Edelstein could kill his buzz right now.

* * *

><p>He took it back. Lord Edelstein was definitely killing his buzz.<p>

The little twit had totally flipped his lid when Lizzie explained to him what was going on. He'd ordered everyone else out of the audience hall and now it was only the two of them in there and they'd been in there _forever._

"What could they possibly be talking about?" he complained.

"Patience, Bruder," Luddy said. "You must understand that these matters require a certain amount of delicacy." The little goody-two-shoes had been sitting in his seat calmly the whole time, as if Lizzie and Lord Edelstink were prepared to stay in there and talk delicacy until the fricking cows came home.

"Amigos!" They turned. Antonio was coming towards them, holding a tray full of food. Lovino was on his shoulders. "I cannot believe you are still here; this is getting truly ridiculous. They have been there for hours." He set the tray on the bench between them. "The kitchens were kind enough to provide us with some food." Picking up a roll, he tore it in half and gave one of the pieces to Lovino. "Tell me, Gilbert. Is it true you and the princess have decided to go steady?"

"How do you know that?"

"The servants in this castle know everything," he said with a smile. "So it _is_ true then?"

"Keh, you know. Can't let Lord Edelstein walk off with Lizzie after we did all that work to get her back—_what_?" because Tony had started laughing.

"I knew it amigo," he said. "I said to myself 'She is interested in him and I am thinking that he could be interested in her.'" He clapped Gilbert on the shoulder. "Felicitaciones!"

Gilbert's face was growing red but he didn't really mind. Grinning, he grabbed a roll off place for himself.

"Why are you carrying a broom?" The two adults looked over to see Lovino standing in front of Luddy, staring at him challengingly.

"Hm?" Luddy looked to where the broom leaned against the armrest of the bench. "It used to belong to your bruder." He looked to Gilbert as if to confirm this fact and Gilbert nodded. _He's remembering more._

Lovino squinted at him for a moment before demanding "How do you know Feli?"

Luddy looked taken aback. "We were in a war together."

"Why should I believe you? Where is he now? What have you done with him?"

"Hey," Gilbert said because Luddy was tensing up. "Shut up." Luddy leaned over so that his head rested on Gilbert's upper arm.

"It is not polite to ask so many questions, Lovino," Tony admonished gently.

Lovino, the little twerp, opened his mouth to protest but Tony just shook his head and patted his knee. Lovino's face changed and he sulkily climbed up onto Tony's lap and took Tony's piece of roll out of his hand and stuffed it into his mouth. Gilbert glared at the back of the kid's head. _Unbelievable._ _Who does he think that he is?_ Beside him, he felt Luddy's breathing stabilize again and with it, Gilbert's irritation ebbed away.

The doors to the audience room opened just then and Lizzie emerged, followed by Lord Edelstink. Tony, Gilbert and Luddy automatically got to their feet.

"Lord Edelstein and I have reached an agreement," she said with a smile. "We can start preparations for departure whenever you wish."

"Really? That is awesome!"

"Yes, it is." She offered an arm to both Luddy and Gilbert. "Come with me. Lord Edelstein has agreed to supply us with food for the trip home."

As Gilbert and Luddy slipped their arms into hers, she squeezed Gilbert's hand and Gilbert smiled in spite of himself. Luddy caught his eye and smiled too.

Life was fricking awesome.

* * *

><p>((Author's Note: I know that I gave Lizzie kind of a long spiel up there but I just wanted to outline the reasons why I ship PruHun and not AusHun. I hope it wasn't too wordy for any of you. Please go onto enjoy the epilogue!))<p> 


	13. Epilogue

As it turned out, Rome Vargas had been a wealthy man with a ridiculously large inheritance under him. Since his confirmed death three years ago, Lord Edelstein's men had been looking for his two grandsons, his only heirs.

Lovino they had found thanks to Antonio's information about his situation but on Feliciano they had had little word at all. The military in the north was a mess at the moment but they had it from fairly reliable sources was that he was alive, or had been, a year ago. As that was more than any of them had a right to expect, Tony's family was continuing to fund the search. Lord Edelstein had bowed out after having successfully found the primary heir and that was fine with Gilbert. The fact that Tony's family was in charge of the search now meant that Tony got to come north with him and Luddy. That was pretty awesome. (Lovino's presence was less awesome but as long as Tony could sort of keep him under control, Gilbert would do his best to not get into dumb arguments with a twelve-year-old.)

Lizzie came with them when they went north and that was _seriously_ awesome. Getting to know her more was awesome too. They took it slow at first but that was cool. The whole thing ended up snowballing after like two weeks anyway. They still bickered and picked on each other all the time but he was so much happier bickering Lizzie than he was playing nice with anyone else that he really didn't care.

He had been worried to see how Luddy was going to react to seeing the places they used to live and the old battlefields they'd marched on, but Luddy was a tough kid. He was getting better adjusted all the time. Neither he nor Gilbert ever really expected their nightmares to stop though.

Luddy and Lizzie were able to talk a lot about their demons and that made Gilbert proud and happy in a weird sort of way. Sometimes things got out of hand and someone's demon resurfaced. Not always fully, but sometimes in little pieces, like a blood-thirsty snarl, or clawed hand at his throat or a cat-eyed look of murderous intent. He learned to deal with each of these in turn because unless Lizzie actually went full demon, he couldn't just kill her and make everything well again. So he learned to do things the hard way. And they made do.

Then, one day, months later, when he and Lizzie had been officially dating for months, they were on the inn's roof, her sitting up, and him lying with his hands behind his head. They were shooting the breeze and making plans to return to Lizzie's kingdom soon and maybe build some kind of life there. (And maybe convince Queen Hedervary that Gilbert wasn't a total heathen, but you know. Baby steps. The king was pretty cool though.) Lizzie was describing the palace was well as she could remember and Gilbert was having a really inappropriate thought involving him and Lizzie and that four-poster bed with the portrait of Lizzie's dead relative hanging on the wall and he couldn't stop himself from smirking and she said "What?" like she knew where this was going and he wondered what she'd do if he actually dared to say it out loud. He was conscious of the thought, _I fricking love you_, and before he knew what he was doing, he'd reached up and pulled her down to his level and kissed her.

At first he thought he was having some freaky "high-on-love" mind trip like Lizzie read about in those retarded, "sexy" stories she pretended she didn't secretly like because as he kissed her, Lizzie started to glow white. He pulled back and stared at her and it was like her skin was flaking because as the glow spread to cover her whole body, flecks of white peeled off in a _whoosh_ and turned black and faded. There was a blast of wind, like a hurricane with Lizzie at the center and when it all faded, it was just her looking at him in awe and then slowly, slowly her raised her hands to look at them and turned them over and rubbed them up her arms and _laughed_.

"It's gone, Gilbert," she said, like she could hardly believe it. "We did it."

"Yeah, we did," he said and the two of them grinned at each other and then she was leaning in to kiss him again. The last coherent thought in Gilbert's head was that his parents must be spinning in their graves. Not only did he have the gall to not be born a demon but now he'd gone and de-demonized someone else.

Well. They didn't have to know. Gilbert sure wasn't going to ever tell them.

* * *

><p>((Author's Note: Guys! We made it! Thank you, thank you to everyone who was following this story right up till the very end. I guess it's time to lay this story's playlist to rest. (Demons by Imagine Dragons for the theme song of this fic, yy? Or is that too obvious?) I hope the ending makes you satisfied. You're all lovely. Have a wonderful week. :D ))


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